The Bloodline Ninja
by kyasaarin
Summary: kakashi x OC. Namino Kireina, former kunoichi of Sunagakure moves to Konohagakure. As a multitalented ninja, Kireina's past holds many secrets. Secrets she's unwilling to share. With anyone.
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

Namino Kireina sighed as she plodded along the snow covered dirt road. Next to her, a carriage carrying her parents and their driver rolled along at an equally slow pace. They were the only ones out there. Her parents, Namino Toshi and Sumiko Ayume, were going to the Hidden Leaf village for vacation. Both her parents had graduated from the genin academy but never made it farther than chuunin. Even then, it was merely the influence of their bloodline limits that had managed to get them that far. After her parents gave up as shinobis, they became important diplomatic figures and soon became two of the most hunted diplomats. Although her parents had failed as ninjas, Kireina had achieved all her statuses at a very young age. She graduated from the academy at the age of 6, became chuunin by the time she was 7, jounin at 9, and at the whopping age of 11, she was an elite jounin and captain of the ANBU squad for Hidden Sand village. When her parents informed her of their vacation she had attempted to convince them to hire a team of jounin or chuunin for protection. Her parents called her silly and said she would be more than enough, which was more than likely true. Thanks to the joining of her parents, Kireina was the not so proud bearer of 4 advanced bloodline limits, earning her the famous title the "Bloodline Ninja". Cool? She thought it was rather corny. (The authoress thinks so too but can't think of anything else.)

The Namino clan was a very powerful clan because of its two advanced bloodline limits. Her father had inherited both and passed them onto her. Her mother's clan, the Sumiko, was also a very powerful clan, also due to its advanced bloodline limits. Unlucky for Kireina, her mother had inherited both and passed them onto her. So here she was at the age of 24, an elite jounin and one of the most sought after kunoichi in the Hidden Sand Village.

Kireina was broken out of her reverie when she detected a slight movement in the trees behind them. She blinked and within that second, her first bloodline was activated, the Byakugan. The Byakugan came from her father's side. Her father's great grandfather had been a Hyuuga who ran away, but had quickly changed his name to Namino for fear of discovery. His great grandfather had married another who carried the advanced bloodline, the Sharingan. Few in the Namino family had both, most only had one or the other, or they had both but wasn't able to use both efficiently. Kireina had been the only one who received both and was talented in the use of them. With her Byakugan, Kireina noted 5 shinobi hidden in treetops. They made no move to attack so she left them alone but stayed alert. As if on cue, a kunai flew out of a tree but instead of being aimed for Kireina, the kunai hit the carriage with a solid thud. Kireina noted the explosive tag attached.

"Kaa-san (Mother)! Tou-san (Father)! Get out of the carriage!" she shouted activating her Sharingan and performing one-handed seals.

That was her other bloodline by the way. On her mother's side, the bloodlines she had received were large amounts of chakra and stamina as well as perfect chakra control enabling her to use raw chakra or perform one-handed seals quickly and efficiently. All kunoichi have a similar weakness though, that was compassion and loyalty. Kireina could care less about a failed mission as long as her comrades were safe, so along with her four bloodline limits, she was also a medic nin. Perfect kunoichi? Not quite. She was well known for her furious temper, once unleashed unable to be controlled. Lucky for her acquaintances, she had learned to control her temper over the past few years.

The carriage exploded just as Ayume and Toshi scrambled out. The driver had already been killed with senbon thrown shortly after the kunai. Kireina whirled into action as soon as her parents were out of the way. Finishing her seals she shouted, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Giant Fireball)!" She opened her mouth and a large fireball emerged setting half of the forest on fire. She quickly formed other seals, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu (Giant Waterfall)!" to put it out. The smoke cleared to reveal 4 dead Hidden Cloud shinobi.

'Figures,' Kireina thought. 'The Cloud has always been enemies of the leaf and ever since Sand allied itself with the Leaf, they've been after us too! They must think we're on a diplomatic mission. Strange, though. There were 5 shinobi, where is the fifth?'

Kireina frowned using her Byakugan to look around her surroundings and easily found the fifth one, obviously the scout. Kireina decided to leave him alone then bit her thumb, slamming her palm to the ground, "Kuchiyose No Jutsu (Summoning)!" One smoke puff later, a white lion with a silver mane and a silver lioness appeared.

"Kaa-san, Tou-san, Daisuke and Yuki will take you to the village. They're more than capable of taking care of you. I'm going to stay back in case there are others," Kireina told her parents quietly.

Daisuke shook his mane and growled ferociously but lay down to allow Toshi to climb on his back. Yuki and Ayume were already settled.

"Hold on tight. Daisuke, Yuki, I trust you guys to see them there safely," Kireina said, affectionately hugging both lion and lioness.

The two purred in reply then took off. Kireina turned to the dead bodies and performed her fire jutsu setting the four dead bodies on fire as a sign of respect, bowing her head to the four dead shinobi. After the fire died away, Kireina started down the road toward Konoha again, walking at a leisurely pace. She had barely walked 10 feet when five nin jumped out and surrounded her. She didn't flinch, already expecting them. Her brows furrowed though when she noticed all five were elite jounins.

'The Cloud is going all out,' she thought.

She would have no problem beating them, but she was hoping to catch up to her parents fast.

"What's so special about her?" one shinobi asked.

"She's supposed to carry four advanced bloodline limits, including a fully-formed Sharingan and the Mangekyou Sharingan and a Byakugan. She supposedly received Sharingan when she was 6 and mastered all the Hyuuga secrets at the age of 8," the answer sounded a little unsure.

"Are you sure we got the right person? Her eyes don't look like they hold either," came the third voice.

Kireina smiled inwardly. Her Byakugan and Sharingan couldn't be seen because of her other two bloodlines. Thanks to her perfect chakra control, her chakra automatically hid the Byakugan and Sharingan when they weren't activated. Unlike most Byakugan holders, Kireina's eyes still had black pupils. When her bloodlines activated, her naturally silver eyes turned a shade lighter, but her pupils would remain, her chakra masking the veins around her eyes, and three spinning grey wheels would appear. Even then, the change was so faint, no one ever noticed.

"You don't look like much of a kunoichi," a fourth shinobi sneered.

That was true as well, instead of the traditional jounin vest, Kireina wore a pink silk traditional Chinese top with dark pink sakura designs. To make the outfit even more outrageous, she wore a floor-length black skirt with slits on both sides ending slightly above her knees. Tied around her waist was a pink sash the same shade as her top. Her hair was held up in a bun with a pair of chopsticks. She looked like she was going to a party rather than on a mission.

The last nin was a kunoichi who eyed her suspiciously, "Where are your weapons? You're supposedly good in hand-to-hand combat as well."

Kireina smiled inwardly. She had created a permanent Henge that turned her kunai into a pair of chopsticks so whenever she needed them all she had to do was pull out the chopsticks. Her hair wouldn't fall out though because they were held up by several pins that were actually senbon. She rarely ever had to use those though. Most her opponents fell after pulling out one chopstick. Her shuriken were disguised as clips on her sash that were easily accessible. In times of dire need, even her sash could be used as a weapon. No one knew where she hid her weapons; the only people who knew were the Kazekage, Gaara, who had given her the idea, her parents, and Temari, her best friend and sister of the Kazekage. She suspected Kankuro knew seeing as how he loved to eavesdrop on his brother and sister's conversations.

Kireina stood still while she let her five opponents study her. Then they attacked. Kireina faced her first opponent whipping the chopsticks out of her hair. The Henge immediately dispelled leaving two kunai in its place. This threw the front attacking shinobi off and he faltered giving Kireina an opening. Flicking one kunai out she threw it to the left. The shinobi in front of her disappeared in a puff of smoke and the original staggered out of the bushes, a kunai stuck in his throat. The other four jounin paused in their onslaught surprised at her ability to see through a Kage Bunshin.

Kireina smirked, "Too late."

Half an hour later, the battle was over, five dead shinobi lay scattered along the floor. Kireina stood upright, barely panting or sweating. There were only a few leaves in her hair blown up from her speed. The only attack the enemy had landed was a shallow cut on her arm which could easily be healed. She sent out some of her remaining chakra and called back the two kunai she had used in the fight. When they were safely secured she searched within her for any remaining chakra. There was barely enough there to stop the bleeding from her gash. She quickly put a chakra-infused hand over the gash and the bleeding stopped. However, she began to feel dizzy-headed.

"Oh dear," she said to herself, "I may have tried to end it too quickly and used a little too much chakra," and before she even knew it, she started to fall.

_**Meanwhile in Konoha...**_

Ayume paced restlessly across the Hokage's office. Toshi shifted restlessly in the chair. The Godaime watched the couple with interest. Half an hour earlier, Daisuke and Yuki had dropped the two off at the gates of Konoha and the two had hurried to the Hokage tower.

"Hokage-sama," Ayume began.

"Just Tsunade please," the lady interrupted.

Ayume nodded, "Tsunade, our daughter is still out there. She should be back by now."

Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows, "Your daughter? I didn't realize your daughter came with you."

"Our daughter was our ninja escort," Toshi explained.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows, "I see. But you just arrived half an hour ago. From what you said about the enemy nin, if your daughter stayed behind to deal with them, most likely from the Cloud, I don't expect her for another hour."

Toshi shook his head, "Do you know who our daughter is, Tsunade-sama?"

Tsunade shook her head.

Toshi fished around in his briefcase and pulled out a picture. Tsunade studied it. Coal black hair with silver streaks held up in a bun. Pink Chinese top, black skirt, pink sash, pink slippers. Her eyes widened.

"Y-Y-Your daughter is the Bloodline Ninja?" she stuttered.

"Hai," Ayume nodded, "Usually she would have her opponents dead in 5 minutes. If she's out there for so long, then that means it's either a demon or she got careless and used too much chakra."

Tsunade nodded in understanding, just then the door opened and a silver-haired, masked jounin walked in carrying a mission report.

"Ah, Kakashi, just the ninja I needed."

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Kakashi cursed himself for his stupidity. He should've recognized that look on Tsunade's face and run when he could. Now he was stuck saving some diplomat's daughter. He sped through the forest wanting to get this over with. He arrived at a clearing just in time to see a young woman collapse. He darted forward catching her before she fell. He was pretty sure this was their daughter. He had been told to look for a young lady about 5 feet 4 inches tall wearing traditional Chinese clothing and a black skirt. He peered at her face and started at what he saw.

'The Bloodline Ninja is their daughter?' he wondered to himself.

He looked at his surroundings just now noticing the five dead shinobi scattered around the forest.

'Impossible!' he thought, 'These are all elite jounin or higher and she defeated all of them without breaking sweat!'

He easily picked her up bridal style then took to the trees.


	2. Chapter 2: You're a WHAT?

_**The next morning...**_

Kireina woke up groggily trying to remember what had happened. The last thing she remembered was defeating the Cloud shinobi and trying to go after her parents...her parents! She bolted upright only to hit her forehead against something hard.

"Itai," she whimpered rubbing her head.

She peered at the offending object she had hit only to find a silver-haired, half-masked man rubbing his forehead. Her first reaction was to scream and scream she did.

Kakashi put his hand on the back of his head and sweatdropped. Seconds later, three figures burst through the door. Ayume and Toshi rushed to their daughter to see what had distressed her. Tsunade moved to check her vitals.

"That's the thanks I get for saving you?" he mumbled to himself.

Unfortunately for him, Kireina heard him.

"You saved me? You're the one who brought me here?" she asked.

Kakashi nodded, smiling sheepishly as his right eye turning into a little arc. His left eye was covered by his slanted hitai-ate.

A smile slowly spread across Kireina's face. She beckoned towards him. Kakashi looked at her parents and Tsunade unsure only to find them tip-toeing out the room. He sweatdropped again and uneasily edged toward the young woman in the bed. To his surprise Kireina reached up and gave him a hug.

"Thank you."

"Um...yeah...anytime," Kakashi answered awkwardly.

Kireina laughed, "I'm Namino Kireina. Daughter of Namino Toshi and Sumiko Ayume."

"Kireina? That's an unusual name. Where'd you get it from?"

Kireina made a face, "My parents took the words 'Kireii Hana' and smushed them together to get Kireina."

"Hm, pretty flower. Well...um...Hatake Kakashi. Son of Konohagakure."

She nodded approvingly, "Good answer. If you put it that way, I am a daughter of Sunagakure."

Kakashi looked at her in surprise, "You know Gaara then?"

Kireina grinned, "Of course I know that brat. His sister's my best friend!"

"Temari?"

"Mm-hm. You know them?"

"Not personally, but Gaara of the Sand was a very famous shinobi in Hidden Leaf 3 years ago."

"Soo ka..."

There was an awkward silence until Kakashi finally spoke, "I better get going. My team will get mad at me if I don't show up soon."

Kireina brightened up, "You have a genin team?"

Kakashi sighed, "They're not really genin anymore, but yes."

"Can I come with you?" she asked tentatively.

Kakashi was surprised by her for the second time that morning, "You...want to?"

Kireina nodded wistfully, "Back at the Sand I'm not allowed to train genin or belong to a team because the brat likes to send me on suicide missions frequently. I think he's trying to get rid of me. He's still miffed about the fact that I beat him in shoji and managed to put a scratch on him without the use of chakra."

Kakashi raised his eyebrows, "The brat?"

Kireina grinned sheepishly, "It's a habit I have."

"Well, if you don't mind dealing with more whiny brats, then you're welcome to come."

Kireina cheered and quickly removed the medical equipment attached to her. Kakashi politely left the room while she changed. When she left the room she was in her usual outfit except instead of pink, it was red. The two left the hospital and went to the training grounds to meet Kakashi's team.

"YOU'RE LATE!"

Kakashi's eyes curved and Kireina's eyes widened at the loud outburst.

"Gomen ne everyone! I was on my way here when I met a lady in distress and I had to help her—"

"USO! (Liar)"

"Good morning everyone," Kakashi sweat dropped, "This is Kireina-san. She'll be joining us for a while. She is a kunoichi of the Hidden Sand village."

The three chuunin greeted them. Kireina observed them noting physical features as well as facial emotions. They didn't look to be more than 16 years old and they were a little bit shorter than her too.

"Hidden Sand?" the blond-haired young man in black and orange eagerly pounced on the words, "Do you know Gaara? Ne, ne?"

Kireina sweatdropped, "Yes, I know him..."

"These three are all chuunin. The blond loudmouth is Uzumaki Naruto. He is also a student of one of the Legendary Sannin, Jiraiya. Haruno Sakura is the pink-haired kunoichi and she's training under Tsunade to become a medic nin. Uchiha Sasuke is the dark-haired one who likes to act cool. He was apprenticed to Orochimaru for 2 and a half years then dragged back here by the loudmouth a year ago," Kakashi introduced.

Sasuke flinched at his introduction but said nothing. Kireina noticed but ignored it. She had perked up at the words "medic nin" as well as the name "Uchiha".

"A medic nin, huh? That requires a lot of hard work. Are you up for it?" she asked Sakura.

Sakura looked up at Kireina, "I hope so. Are you a medic nin?" (Inner Sakura: What do you MEAN am I up for it? of COURSE I'm up for it! I must succeed and impress Sasuke-kun! After all, Hinata-chan is a medic nin and SHE captured Sasuke's attention. Good thing she doesn't know that. I must prevail!)

Kireina nodded, "Hai. It took a lot of hard work to get there, but it's definitely worth it. Good luck! Especially with Tsunade as your teacher! She's quite famous for her toughness."

Sakura smiled at her, surprised Kireina hadn't discouraged her.

Kakashi glanced at Kireina, "I didn't know you were a medic nin."

Kireina laughed, "Well, I've only known you for about a day, Hatake-san. So there's a lot you don't know about me."

Kakashi nodded in reply. Kireina turned to Sasuke.

"So, an Uchiha eh?" she asked.

Sasuke stared back at her, "What of it?"

Kireina shrugged, "I've always wanted to meet my cousins. Are you from the main family?"

Sasuke's Sharingan automatically activated, "You're an Uchiha?"

Kireina waved her hand impatiently, "Sort of, but you didn't answer my other question. Plus, you need to get more training for that Sharingan of yours. You obviously can't control it well enough yet."

Sasuke quickly deactivated his Sharingan, "Yes, I am from the main family."

Kireina grinned, "Do you know anyone by the name of Uchiha Kumiko?"

Sasuke frowned, "She was my great grandmother's sister. She ran away when she was 18 and was presumed dead."

Kireina's eyes turned into arcs, "You're my cousin then!"

Sasuke was shocked.

Kireina introduced herself, "My name is Namino Kireina. Great granddaughter of Uchiha Kumiko."

Naruto and Sakura's eyes widened at this news. Kakashi was surprised too. He knew Kireina was the Bloodline Ninja, but didn't know exactly what her bloodlines were. Now he knew one of them.

Sakura snapped her fingers as it hit her, "Namino Kireina? That's the name of the famous Bloodline Ninja!"

Three pairs of eyes turned to her questioningly. Kakashi pulled out a certain book and waited for the questions to bombard Kireina.

"Are you her?" "Why are you here?" "What's your relation to me?" "What are your bloodlines?"

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the last question. He was actually quite curious about the answer as well.

Kireina sweatdropped, "One question at a time please."

Sasuke was first. "What happened to Kumiko-sama?"

"Well, she ran away and married Hyuuga Hitoshi who changed his family name to Namino. The two had a boy and a girl. The boy had two boys, one who had me."

"My turn! What are your bloodlines?" Naruto piped up.

"Well, I have the Sharingan as well as the Byakugan. My other two bloodlines are from my mother's side. I was unlucky enough to have received all the family "blessings". My mother's clan was gifted with large amounts of chakra and stamina along with perfect chakra control enabling those with both bloodlines to use raw chakra and perform one-handed seals," Kireina answered, "Is that it?"

"Why are you dressed like that?" Sakura blurted out then quickly covered her mouth, horrified at her rudeness.

Kireina laughed, "Believe it or not, it's quite easy to move in this and I've got quite a few things I'm able to hide in this ensemble. Also, it helps me blend in more when doing undercover missions without me having to change."

The three chuunins nodded.

"Can you show us?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

A smile lit up her face, "I'd be happy to battle any of you, but no I won't show you my secrets unless you make me."

The three chuunins turned toward their sensei who was leaning against a wooden pole lazily reading his book. Kireina's eyes widened as she saw what the book was. With a furious shriek she was by Kakashi's side in a second. The three chuunins blinked at her speed. They hadn't even seen her move!

Kireina snatched his book away, "Hentai! How dare you read THIS, this FILTHY BOOK in front of them! They can't be more than 16!"

Kakashi protested and reached to get his book back, but before he could move Kireina was already far away from him. She smirked causing Kakashi to frown.

"Fine, I won't read it in front of them anymore," he grumbled.

"Or me," Kireina threatened.

Kakashi paused, "Sometimes."

Kireina shrugged, "Good enough for me."

With a poof the book disappeared and a second later Kakashi felt his pocket get slightly heavier.

"Kakashi-sensei! Will you spar her! We want to watch!" Naruto begged.

Kakashi put his hand on the back of his head and his eye turned into a half moon, "Er..well.."

"Oh come, Kakashi. Don't tell me Copy Ninja Kakashi, ANBU at the age of 16, is scared," Kireina taunted.

Kakashi's visible eye widened, wondering how she knew all this about him.

"Yes, you are a legend," Kireina laughed as if reading his mind.

Kakashi pondered over this. He could either, spar her and lose with dignity, or he could not spar her and still get beaten by her but without any dignity. He sighed. He really had no choice. He pushed up his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan. His students immediately perked up. That he had revealed his Sharingan already meant that this was going to be a good fight.

Kireina grinned, "Good boy."

With that, she disappeared in a puff of smoke and reappeared behind Kakashi. However, instead of attacking, she slammed her palm to the ground sending up sharp rocks, among the rocks appeared another Kakashi looking grumpy.

"Another Tsunade? One was bad enough. Now Sakura's training to become one and here's another one," he grumbled jumping out of the mass of boulders.

The Kakashi in front of Kireina disappeared. Sasuke raised an eyebrow. She hadn't even activated any of her bloodline limits and she still saw through the Kage Bunshin. Kakashi raised a right hand sparkling with blue electricity. Kireina's face lit up.

"So THIS is the famous Chidori? I can hear why it's named that," she grinned.

Instead of running away, she performed a number of seals and activated her Byakugan as well as her Sharingan. The only reason they knew was because she had deliberately performed her seals slowly so they could tell what she was doing. Sasuke looked at her eyes and didn't see a difference. He turned on his Sharingan and was able to detect the faint color change as well as the three spinning commas.

"Incredible," he whispered, "She has the same eye as my brother. But that means she killed her closest friend."

Kireina grinned, "This is where the fun begins."

She sped at Kakashi her hand also glowing, similar to the Chidori, but not. It looked more like...

"Rasengan?" Naruto gasped.

Kireina turned her head and winked at them, "Not really, this is my other bloodline. The ability to use raw chakra."

Kakashi ran to meet her and the two hands met resulting in a bright light filling the training ground. When the smoke cleared. Both were gone. The chuunins looked around wildly to find them and looked up when they heard the sound of metal against metal. Kakashi and Kireina had taken to the trees and were now fighting with kunai.

Kakashi grinned, "So you use henge on your kunai to make them chopsticks, eh? Clever."

Kireina smile in return, "Very observant. You're the first one to find out that I'll let live."

Kireina returned the kunai to her hair then dropped out of the trees landing gracefully on the ground. Kakashi followed landing with a light thump behind her.

"Aw, is it over?" Naruto whined.

"Hai. It's time for me to go find my parents," Kireina said apologetically.

"I'll walk you," Kakashi said to her.

He turned to the chuunins, "I'm sorry we didn't train. I'll meet you guys sometime later this week when Kireina and her parents are settled in."

The chuunin nodded then went their separate ways.


	3. Chapter 3: Enter the Sand Siblings

Hi everyone! Sorry, I'm a little new at so please bear withme. I'm sorry if the first chapter was really boring, I tried to get it all out of the way at once. Anyway, this is a Kakashi X OC story with a little Sasuke X Hinata and Neji X OC. Namino Kireina is my character and the storyline/plot is mine, but Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi, etc. aren't mine. So...I guess that's what a disclaimer is? D Sorry, I'm a newbie - Um..there was something else...OH YEAH! This fic does take place in Naruto world meaning it's all ninjas and stuff, but it's a little AU, because when I started writing this, I think I had only read the manga up to 240 something. So if you don't read the manga and only watch the anime, there will be some spoilers in here -" Sorry! Also,there's a lot of random Japanese in here. I'm sorry if that bugs anyone, but I DO know Japanese so I'm not a random anime fan who uses whatever Japanese she picks up while watching it. I DO know Japanese.

* * *

"You know you don't need to come with me right?" Kireina asked.

Kakashi smiled, "I know, but you're a fascinating person and I'd like to get to know you more."

Kireina laughed, "All right. So, do you know where my parents are?"

Kakashi answered, "No, but you could probably find them considering you still have your Byakugan on."

Kireina grinned sheepishly, "Oh yeah."

She quickly scanned the village, "They're with the Hokage. It looks like they're figuring something out. Let's go!"

Kireina deactivated her Sharingan and Byakugan, and then the two of them quickly started off in the direction of her parents.

"So, what are you hiding under that mask of yours?" Kireina asked.

Kakashi grinned, "That's my secret. No one's ever seen my face before and lived to describe it."

Kireina shrugged, "Oh well, it's your privacy."

Kakashi grinned, "So what about you. You can't be just a jounin. Not with that kind of skill and speed."

Kireina laughed, "Nothing escapes you, huh? You're right. I'm an elite jounin and the head ANBU captain for Sand."

"Impressive. Let me guess. You're one of those who achieved everything really young right?"

"Graduated at 6, chuunin by 7, jounin at 9, elite jounin and captain of the ANBU by 11."

"How old are you now?"

"24. You?"

"25. So you've been ANBU captain for 13 years?"

"Pretty much!"

There was silence and then, "Freak."

"I kno—huh? HEY!"

The two argued their way to where Tsunade was with the Naminos. Kakashi and Kireina stopped their bickering and bowed showing the respect the title Hokage deserved. Tsunade acknowledged their presence with a wave of her hand then went back to discussion with Kireina's parents. After awhile, the three broke conference and turned to Kakashi and Kireina who were now engaged in jyankenpon. The three older adults sweatdropped. Tsunade broke their game apart and got their attention.

"Kireina," she began seriously.

"This can't be good," said girl muttered.

Tsunade hesitated, "Well...the Hidden Leaf knew your parents were coming with a ninja escort. Unfortunately, we didn't know their ninja escort was their daughter, so we don't have a place prepared for you."

Kireina shrugged, "It's fine. I'll sleep in the forest. I'm used to it by now."

Tsunade shook her head, "Absolutely not. We will find a place for you. I'm sure no one would mind housing you for a short while until we find somewhere for you."

"She can stay with me."

Four pairs of eyes turned on the silver-haired jounin.

Kakashi begin to sweat at the looks he was receiving, "What?"

"For one, you're a male. Number two, not only are you male, but you're a perv—" Tsunade was cut off.

"I don't mind," Kireina cut in, "I've stayed with males on other missions before. As long as he's in a separate room, I'm fine with it."

"Are you sure? We don't know how long you'll have to stay here until your parents can find a permanent residence," Tsunade said.

"Permanent residence? I thought they were just visiting!" Kireina exclaimed.

"Your father and I have been thinking about moving to the Leaf for awhile. We were originally just going to visit, but after looking around the village some more today, we really like it. It'd not as hot here," Ayume explained, "We've already contacted Gaara and he said it was okay for you to stay as long as you still go back and do missions for him. Of course, this is up to you. You live by yourself in Sand, so you're perfectly welcome to return there, but we'd like you to stay with us."

Kireina looked at them blankly, then shrugged, "I could use a change in environment. I'll send Daisuke and Yuki to get our stuff."

"No need," came a new voice.

Kireina whirled around and squealed at the sight of her best friend. Temari laughed and ran to Kireina to give her a hug.

"You brought all our stuff?" Kireina asked.

"Well...I didn't specifically," Temari said sheepishly.

"TEMARI!"

Temari winced, "I made Kankuro carry it all and Gaara came too."

"Kazekage-sama's here? He shouldn't be here! With all three of you gone as well as my family, who's running the village?" Kireina gasped.

Temari grinned, "A Gaara Bunshin. No one from Sand knows he's here."

Kireina shook her head, "I hope you guys don't do that often."

Temari smiled innocently, "Only when our friends are in dire need."

Gaara walked up to the two girls his sand trailing him formed as a big cup carrying a bunch of suitcases and packages. Kankuro followed him with all three of his puppets out and carrying stuff. He was scowling with displeasure at his puppets being used this way.

Kireina bowed to Gaara then looked up her eyes twinkling, "Hey brat."

Gaara rolled his eyes, "Where do I put this Reina-nee-chan?"

Kakashi and Tsunade gaped at the term of affection Gaara had added to Kireina's name.

Kakashi turned to Kireina, "Can I call you Reina-chan?"

Kireina stared at him, then replied, "Only if I can call you Kashi-kun!"

Kakashi looked stumped for a moment then slowly nodded in agreement. Kireina cheered and gave Kakashi a big hug. Then turned her attention to Gaara.

"Just put it at Kakashi's house's doorway. He can help me carry it in later," Kireina instructed.

Gaara nodded and his sand cup disappeared only to reappear a few moments later, "How did you know I knew where his house was?"

"Kakashi said you were rather famous when you came to Hidden Leaf 3 years ago. Knowing you, you probably thoroughly checked out your surroundings," Kireina explained.

"Are you living at Kakashi's house?" Temari asked curiously.

"Only temporarily," Kireina answered.

Before Kakashi could even blink he found himself pinned to a tree with sand, wind, and a puppet holding a kunai to his throat. Everyone except Temari and her brothers blinked. The three Sand siblings were at Kakashi's side in a second.

"If you do anything to her..." Gaara let the threat hang.

Kakashi blinked and opened his mouth to answer.

"Temari! Gaara! Kankuro! Let him go! He won't do anything to me! Remember who you're talking about here? I won't let him do anything," Kireina yelped obviously annoyed with her Sand friends.

The three slowly released him and returned to the rest of the group. Kireina dashed over to Kakashi and helped him up from where Gaara had unceremoniously dropped him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered helping him brush his clothes free of sand.

Kakashi's visible eye arced, "It's perfectly fine. They're just looking out for you. I would have done the same if I were them."

Kireina smiled in relief and the two returned to the rest of the group.

"We're going to go now. It's getting kind of late," Kireina announced.

They said their goodbyes and then Kakashi and Kireina left. When they reached there Kakashi helped Kireina carry her stuff in. Kireina looked around his house.

Kakashi sweatdropped, "Sorry. It's not much."

Kireina turned to him and smiled, "It's perfect."

She left to explore more of the house and found there was one bedroom with the bathroom across from it. Next to the bathroom there was a room she presumed to be an office. Kireina blinked and slowly closed the door to that room. She turned to find Kakashi enter the bedroom with her stuff.

She yelped, "What do you think you're doing?"

Kakashi reappeared with a blanket and pillow, "Um, moving your stuff into my room and getting a spare pillow and blanket for myself for the couch?"

Kireina shook her head and crossed her arms, "I can't let you sleep in the living room! I'll sleep in there."

Kakashi frowned, "No, I won't be able to sleep knowing I let a pretty lady sleep on the couch while I'm in my bed. If you sleep in the living room, then I still will and no one will take the bedroom."

Kireina hesitated then uncrossed her arms defeated. Kakashi threw the pillow and blanket onto the couch then gently steered her into the bedroom. Kireina looked around his room. It was pretty empty except for the bed and a couple of bookshelves. On the windowsill there were two pictures and a potted plant. The pictures were of Kakashi in his genin days with his team and Kakashi with his own genin, now chuunin, team. Carved on the plant's pot were the words "Mr. Ukki". She turned to find Kakashi gone and the door closed. She grinned then threw herself onto the bed burying her face in the pillow. She breathed in and she could smell a unique scent on the pillow. It smelled like a mix of forest and waterfall.

'Must be Kakashi's scent,' she thought.

She jumped off the bed and hurried outside to find him. He was in the kitchen making something to eat. He turned when she entered.

He put his hand on the back of his head and grinned, "Sorry, I only have time to make ramen. I hope you don't mind."

Kireina smiled and threw her arms around him for the third time that day. Kakashi was surprised and uncertainly hugged her back.

'She smells like the forest, apples, and peaches?' he mentally wondered.

Kireina let go of him and turned red, "Sorry, I just wanted to tell you thank you for your kindness."

Kakashi shrugged and turned back to the stove, "It's no problem. I'm almost done with the ramen. You can go change and it should be done by then."

Kireina nodded then left. 10 minutes later she returned with her hair wet and changed.

"I took a shower at the same time," she told Kakashi.

He nodded.

"I'll take over housework from now on." Kireina informed him, "It'll be my way of paying you back."

Kakashi tried to protest but Kireina held up a hand to silence him. Kakashi frowned but let it be. The two were soon seated at the kitchen table eating ramen. Kakashi wondered how he was going to eat. Ramen was hot, especially freshly cooked. He couldn't wolf his food down like he usually did. His problem was solved when Kireina looked up at him and realized his dilemma. She chuckled then turned around to allow him privacy. Kakashi grinned then pulled down his mask to begin eating. When the two were done they retired to the living room to talk. When it was getting late, Kireina went to the bedroom and Kakashi settled himself in a comfortable position on the couch.

* * *

Gaara's a little OOC, but I love Gaara so I can't bear having him be a crazy psychopath. - 


	4. Chapter 4: Attached to Team7

Etto...um...I guess usual disclaimer applies? I don't see why people put one at the beginning of every chapter. One during the duration of a story should be enough, ne? Anyhow...the "humor" in this fic is very light. But I didn't know what other genre to put this story under. hehe. sweatdrop. This is mostly a fic centered on Kakashi and all the little secrets Kireina has and is keeping from him :) Oh right, there are also light mentions of Shikamaru X Temari and eventually there might be some Naruto X OC if I have the brain power to come up with another character >P

_**

* * *

The next morning... **_

Kireina woke up when her biological clock began to ring. In other words, she had to use the restroom. She stumbled out of bed groggily and felt her way out the door to the bathroom. Her eyes were still closed and she was too tired to activated her Byakugan. Bad choice on her part. When she found the doorknob to the bedroom she felt her way along the hallway, but stopped when her hand came in contact with something soft and warm. She frowned. That was weird. Walls weren't warm. Stupidly, she began to pat the object trying to figure out what it was. Unfortunately for her, her instinct was to pat down.

"Whoa there!" someone said catching hold of her hands.

Startled, Kireina cracked open her eyes to peer into the amused face of Kakashi.

"Kashi-kun?" she mumbled.

"You might want to watch where you put those hands of yours," Kakashi said.

Kireina glanced down and shrieked when she realized how close she had come to violating him.

"Oh Kami-sama (God)! Sumimasen (Excuse me)Kashi-kun! I was tired and I didn't realize what I was doing and I didn't know it was you," Kireina had turned an interesting shade of red and was obviously very flustered.

Kakashi chuckled and leaned his face close to hers, "It's okay. Just warn me next time so I'll know what to ask for in exchange."

He winked. If possible, Kireina turned even redder and hurried to the bathroom.

Kakashi laughed quietly and thought, 'Maybe I shouldn't have teased her so. She resembles a tomato now.'

He shrugged then went to sit on the couch. A few moments later, Kireina joined him obviously still very embarrassed. She was in light blue today.

"I'm sorry, Kashi-kun," she mumbled, "I don't know what I was thinking."

Kakashi just laughed it off, "I already said it was fine."

Kireina turned red again but gave Kakashi a quick thank you hug then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. After a few minutes, she called Kakashi to have breakfast. The two of them began eating, Kireina allowing Kakashi to eat slowly again. He was finished before her and began to study her.

"You look nice today," he said.

Kireina started, "Uh, thank you."

She wondered what he meant. She looked no different from yesterday. The only difference was the color of her top, sash, and sandals.

"The blue looks nice with your hair and eyes," Kakashi explained as if reading her mind.

"Oh."

"And plus," he added devilishly, "You sort of match with me so we look like a couple now."

Kireina turned bright red again and looked away from Kakashi's grinning face.

Kakashi laughed, "Okay, I'll leave you alone for now."

"For now?" she muttered turning back toward him, "That means you'll tease me more later."

Kakashi looked pleased with her deduction, "That's right!"

Kireina stuck her tongue out at him and fumed to herself silently before cleaning up. Kakashi went with her to help with the dished. While she washed, he dried and put them away. Kireina had obviously been affected Kakashi's teasing because she avoided physical contact with Kakashi as much as possible. After the dishes were done, the two left for the meeting place. When they reached there, they discovered Naruto hadn't arrived yet. Sasuke nearly fell off the bridge when he saw Kakashi. Sakura did fall over, but to the ground.

"Kakashi-sensei!" she gasped, "You're early!"

Kakashi frowned, "Am I not allowed to be on time?"

Sasuke had resumed his cool demeanor but he was obviously still surprised.

"Ohayo minna!" came a cheerful voice.

Everyone turned to see Naruto run up to them.

"Eh! KAKASHI-SENSEI? Why are you here?" Naruto wondered, "You shouldn't be here for another 3 hours!"

Kakashi frowned again, "Why is everyone so surprised?"

"Because you're always late!" The three chuunins yelled. Yes, even Sasuke.

Kakashi blinked, "Oh. Well, let's go get our mission then."

The other four face-faulted as Kakashi turned to leave.

* * *

"Tsunade-baachan!" Naruto exclaimed flinging open the door of Tsunade's office. 

Tsunade looked up in shock, "Y-Y-You guys are early! Did you leave Kakashi behind?"

"Maa, I'm right here," Kakashi announced his presence grumpily.

Tsunade blinked once, twice, then pinched herself, "Okay, definitely not a dream."

Kireina giggled, "Is he really that bad?"

"YES!"

Kireina fell back in fright at the amplitude of the reply and started to edge toward the door when it was flung open.

"Hokage-sama! Cloud shinobi have been spotted at the main gate! They've severely wounded two and Shikamaru-san is fighting them right now! He can't hold them off for long though! There were two chuunin and two jounin!" the messenger was frantic and out of breath.

Tsunade jumped up, but Kireina and Kakashi stopped her, "We'll go."

Kireina and Kakashi jumped out the window and sprinted in the direction of the gate. Tsunade and the chuunin ran to the window to see the disappearing figures. Kireina and Kakashi arrived at the battle scene to find two Cloud shinobi dead, one Leaf shinobi dead, one severely wounded and close to dying. Shikamaru was doing his best to hold off the others, but a chuunin was no match for a jounin, nonetheless two. Kakashi quickly took over for Shikamaru while Kireina healed the Leaf shinobi then healed Shikamaru.

"Mendo kusei na (How troublesome)," Shikamaru muttered.

Kireina looked up at the lazy chuunin, startled, then smiled. He would be okay.

"I'm Namino Kireina. You must be Nara Shikamaru, the Shadow Ninja. Temari talks a lot about you. Hajimemashite (Nice to meet you)," Kireina introduced herself with a bright smile, "There. All done. Get some rest. Kashi-kun and I will handle these two."

Shikamaru frowned. "Kashi-kun?" he muttered to himself, "And did she say something about Temari?"

Kireina winked at him then leapt up to aid Kakashi. Within seconds one Cloud jounin joined his dead comrades and the other was at the mercy of Kireina. Shikamaru was stunned. He didn't even have a chance to see what she had done. Kakashi looked bored as he walked over to where Kireina and the remaining shinobi stood. Even in captive, the shinobi was still very cheeky.

"You're pretty," he winked at Kireina, "How about you let me go and the two of us can run away to Cloud?"

"How about not?" Kakashi retorted taking the captive shinobi from Kireina and dragging him to his feet.

Shikamaru and the healed Leaf shinobi picked up their dead comrade and the group headed back to the village with their hostage in tow. The group reached the Hokage tower where Tsunade and Team 7 were waiting for them. Tsunade sighed when she saw the dead shinobi. She motioned for her assistants to take him and instructed them to find out who his family was. She dismissed Shikamaru and the other shinobi to the hospital. The rest went to her office. The cloud shinobi was bound with rope to a chair with Kireina and Kakashi standing guard. Team 7 stood in a corner to observe the interrogation procedure.

Tsunade got straight to the point, "Why are you here?"

The cloud shinobi looked at her lazily, "None of your business, old lady."

Tsunade was taken back by his rudeness, "You realize by this attack you have just declared war on Konoha."

The cloud shinobi looked at Tsunade spitefully, "That was the point."

Tsunade frowned and turned to Kakashi, "I have a mission for your team. You are to escort this man to the Hidden Cloud and inform their Daimyo that they have just declared war on Konoha."

Kakashi nodded grimly and untied the man from the chair but his hands were still bound behind his back. All his ninja weapons had been taken away from him. Kakashi pulled him up and dragged him out with Kireina and Team 7 behind him. They left that day and were there in a few hours. They delivered the message, then left Hidden Cloud with minimal resistance. Or rather, what resistance they met was reduced to a minimum. Kireina looked up from another dead shinobi, annoyed.

"Don't they ever learn?" she asked.

Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were dumbfounded. They had just watched Kireina take on two elite jounin with no problem.

"How come you can use such a variety of jutsu?" Naruto gaped.

Kireina winked, "Ask your sensei. He should know the answer to that."

The three chuunin turned questioning gazes toward Kakashi.

He rolled his eyes, "You should know the answer to that question."

"Oh! It's because of the Sharingan! Just like how Kakashi-sensei copied all those jutsus, Kireina-san was able to, too!" Naruto said.

Kakashi nearly fell over hearing this come from his "dumbest" student.

Kireina laughed, "Not quite. But you're right, I have copied a lot of jutsus, but remember I'm an Uchiha and a Hyuuga, too, in a way, so naturally the Katon jutsus were all taught to me as well as the Hyuuga family secrets. I've also been sent on several missions by the Kazekage so I've traveled quite a bit. He allowed me to stay longer in some places and learn their jutsus."

Kakashi snorted, "You're not giving yourself enough credit."

Kireina sent Kakashi a sharp look that clearly said, 'We're not talking about that.'

Kakashi sent back a look that said, 'They deserve to know.'

The three chuunin wondered what all the glares meant.

After a long staring contest Kireina gave in.

"All right. Since Kakashi insists, I'll tell you guys while we're going back to Konoha."

* * *

Sorry if it seems like Kireina and Team 7 became friends a little too fast, but I'm trying to emphasize the point that Kireina is an extremely friendly person and people open up to her quickly. 


	5. Chapter 5: Meet the Akatsuki

_**The next day...**_

"Don't forget Kireina-san. You said you would tell us your story!" Naruto piped up as they hit the road after a long night's rest.

Kireina nodded, "As you know, I'm descended from the Uchiha family and the Hyuuga family. My grandfather wasn't able to use the Byakugan, but he was very skilled at using the Sharingan. I would say even better than your brother, Sasuke. He was able to achieve 'Mangekyou Sharingan' without shedding innocent blood. My great aunt was the opposite. She was able to use the Byakugan, but unable to use the Sharingan. My father received both bloodline limits but was unable to harness both effectively at the same time. He could use the Byakugan but was unable to master any Hyuuga family techniques. His use of the Sharingan was even poorer. His brother was unable to use either. I was the first to learn how to use both. My mother's side had the chakra bloodlines and although my mother had received both, she too, was unable to use both effectively. Once again, I was the first in that family to receive both and have the ability to use them to their full extent and more. Because of my bloodlines I graduated from the academy at 6, a chuunin at 7, I was a jounin at 9, and by the time I was 11 I was an elite jounin and ANBU captain for Hidden Sand."

"That's better than Itachi," Sasuke murmured.

"Ano, that means you were ANBU captain when Gaara's father was Kazekage, ne?" Naruto asked.

Kireina frowned, "Hai. I never approved of the way he treated Gaara and often voiced my opinions, but that's later on in the story."

Kakashi interrupted, "It wasn't only because of your bloodline limits."

Kireina scowled at him, "Well, I'm not trying to out brag anyone here."

Kakashi smiled merrily, "Continue with your story."

She frowned at him, "As I was saying, after I was ANBU captain for 5 years I ran away from Sand to further my training. I wasn't declared a missing-nin though because of my family's influence and because I had told my parents I would be leaving. I wandered around for awhile and picked up different skills. During the 3 years that I wandered outside Sand, I met interesting people. I met a few missing-nin who were actually very decent and they had been classified as that simply because their village feared their power. They taught me several things about survival and I learned more high jutsus from them. I also went to different villages and learned their special techniques. Then I stumbled upon a tiny village full of skilled ninjas, Yukigakure, where I met an old lady who taught me Taijutsu and more high level jutsus. After those three years I returned to the Sand and befriended Gaara. After almost 2 years, I found out the Sand had allied themselves with that snake Orochimaru, so Gaara urged me to run away for fear that Orochimaru would try to use my bloodlines for twisted reasons. After the chuunin exam and the attack on Konoha, I returned to the Sand to help support Gaara. He taught me a few things too."

"Wow, are you better than Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

Kireina shrugged while Kakashi nodded his head vigorously next to her.

"You forgot something," Kakashi reminded her.

Kireina stubbornly shook her head.

"Kakashi-sensei, how do you know this?" Sakura asked.

Kakashi grinned sheepishly, "I get around a lot and plus, I'm a nosy person. I dug her story out of her last night."

"Oh. If you don't want to tell us Namino-san, you don't have too," Sakura said politely.

"Kireina," Kireina said.

The others looked at her in confusion.

"Just call me Kireina," she said smiling.

Sasuke looked like he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"What is it Sasuke-kun?" Kireina asked her younger cousin gently.

"Ano...Itachi killed all of my family, so I haven't had any around in a long time. I kind of miss it," Sasuke hesitated, "Can I call you Reina-nee-chan like Gaara does?"

Everyone looked surprised except for Kireina. She immediately wrapped Sasuke in a hug.

"Of course you can. I'd be proud to have an otouto (brother) as fine as you," she whispered.

The other three smiled while Sasuke slowly wrapped his arms around her waist.

_Thud._

A kunai flew from the bushes and hit Kireina who poofed into a log.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu? Impossible. I didn't even see any seals!" someone complained stepping out of the forest.

Kireina appeared behind Kakashi smirking, "You should know better than that Tanayo."

Kakashi started, "Akamisu Tanayo? Missing-nin of Hidden Rain?"

Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto had kunai and shuriken out as soon as they heard missing-nin and noticed the slash through her hitai-ate.

Kireina waved her hands frantically, "Matte! Matte! She's one of those missing-nin I told you about."

The three chuunin relaxed a little after seeing Kakashi make no move.

Tanayo bowed to the group, "Hajimemashite. Watashi no namae wa Akamisu Tanayo. Ano, watashi wa Kireina-san no tomodachi." (It's nice to meet you. My name is Akamisu Tanayo. I am Kireina-san's friend.)

Team 7 bowed in return and introduced themselves.

Tanayo raised an eyebrow, "Uchiha, eh? Any relation to you?"

Kireina walked over to Sasuke and put an arm around his shoulder, "This is my cousin, now my little brother."

"Ah, so that means he's Itachi-kun's little brother then?"

"Hai."

"Soo desu," Tanayo looked at Sasuke, "Your brother talks about you a lot."

Sasuke clenched his fist, "Yeah right."

Tanayo smiled slightly, "No. He does. As a matter of fact, he should be around here somewhere."

Sasuke glared, "You're friends with him? He killed my entire family. OUR entire family."

"No I didn't," a voice came from behind a tree.

Kunai and shuriken were whipped out once again as a tall figure stepped out.

Kireina stepped forward and grinned, "So this is my famous cousin, Uchiha Itachi."

Itachi raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know I had a cousin that looked like you."

"That's because we're distantly related. My great-grandmother was your great-grandmother's sister," Kireina explained.

"Itachi-kun, don't you recognize her?" Tanayo asked impatiently.  
Itachi eyed Kireina, "Can't say I do."

"She's the Bloodline Ninja you dope!" Tanayo said.

Team 7 raised an eyebrow at what Tanayo had called Itachi.

A look of surprise passed across Itachi's face briefly before it returned to its original stoic gaze.

He smirked and nodded toward her, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Kireina inclined her head politely.

"Wait. You said you didn't kill your family. Then who did?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi turned toward the rest of them, "My uncle, Uchiha Santori."

"Santori-ji-san?" Sasuke sounded confused, "That's impossible. He loved our family and he was always involved in our family activities."

Itachi nodded, "That's why no one ever suspected him except Hokage-sama."

Kakashi's face had a look of realization on it, "Is that why Hokage-sama ordered that decree saying should you choose to return, you should not be killed? He knew you didn't kill your entire clan!"

Itachi confirmed this, "I returned home from a mission that day and found Okaa-san and Otou-san bleeding on the floor. Okaa-san was still alive. When I looked around I saw all our other family members slaughtered like pigs as well. Okaa-san wanted me to hold her and Otou-san, that's why there was blood all over my clothes. I fought with Santori and killed him. That was how I received the Mangekyou Sharingan. Santori was my closest friend. He was the one who told me about the Mangekyou Sharingan before I killed him. Sasuke walked in right after I had just killed Santori so I was bloody, holding bloody kunais, and standing over bloody people. It was natural to assume that I had been the one to kill them. I decided to allow Sasuke to think that and left. Before I left the village I went to Hokage-sama and informed him of the events and pleaded with him to carry on the charade that I, Uchiha Itachi, was an S-class missing-nin and mass murderer."

Sasuke took this all in with a shocked look then spoke up, "Why didn't you ever return then?"

Itachi looked down, "I couldn't. Not after I had led everyone to believe I was a criminal."

"Why did you join Akatsuki then? Why did you come after Naruto?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi laughed, "I'm the one who formed Akatsuki. Akatsuki is not a criminal missing-nin organization like most villages are led to believe. It's actually an organization of shinobi and kunoichi who were either shunned for their power or were classified as missing-nin unrighteously. Most think we're an organization of only nine, but in reality it's only our council of leaders that consists of nine people. There are over 20 people in Akatsuki. The reason we came after Naruto was because Orochimaru was after him too. Orochimaru is afraid of Akatsuki. He too thinks we are an organization of S-Class criminals. He was never part of Akatsuki like most villages believe. He asked to join our organization thinking it was a criminal organization but we rejected him knowing he was an S-class missing-nin due to his own selfishness. When he heard we were 'after' Naruto, he ceased his chase. Unfortunately, he turned his sights on my little brother and by the time Akatsuki got wind of this, Sasuke had already left to seek power from Orochimaru to kill me."

Tanayo and Kireina didn't look surprised at all. The others were silent, trying to digest this information.

"Reina-nee-chan. Those missing-nin you met. They were the Akatsuki weren't they?" Sasuke asked.

Kireina nodded, "Yes. However during the few months I was with them. Your nii-san was out with Kisame tracking Naruto so I never got a chance to meet him."

Kakashi spoke up, "Reina-chan. We have to get going. Hokage-sama expects us back in Konoha by the end of today."

Kireina looked startled, "Have we been talking that long?"

Itachi nodded apologetically, "Hai. Gomen ne. My story took longer than I thought it would."

"It's all right. Will you be returning to Konoha?" Kireina asked.

Itachi shook his head, "No. The Akatsuki need me or else they really will turn into a criminal organization. I've left Kisame in charge for long enough. I'm afraid he won't be able to keep them in control for long now. Tanayo is the only other one who is patient enough and she came with me this time."

"Will you help us though? The Cloud has declared war on Konoha. Will you help us if need be?" Kireina inquired.

Itachi smiled gracefully, "The Akatsuki and I would be happy to help. Just send one of your summonings."

Kireina looked surprised, "How did you know I had more than one?"

"The Bloodline Ninja is not only famous for her bloodlines and perfect use of them. She's also famous for her talent, skill, the jutsus she created, and for her numerous summonings," Itachi explained.

Kireina blushed. "Stop it. You're making my head swell," she muttered.

Team 7's chuunin stared at Kireina. "Is that what you didn't want us to know?" Sakura asked.

Kireina nodded sighing.

"Gomen," Itachi apologized, "I didn't realize."

Kireina waved her hand dismissing the apology, "It's fine. Anyway, we need to go back to Konoha now."

Itachi and Tanayo nodded and bowed, "Ja ne." Then the two melted into the shadows.

"Ano, Reina-nee-chan, when you use your Sharingan, I noticed that it's fully formed and you have the Mangekyou Sharingan. Who did you kill?" Sasuke asked.

Kireina smiled, "I didn't kill anyone. I just trained very hard, but I suppose you could say I killed nature. I loved nature and while I was training, I always trained near rivers and against trees. So I killed quite a few trees and bloodied a few rivers before I achieved Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Does that mean I can get it too, without killing my closest friend?" Sasuke asked.

Kireina smiled, "It requires much dedication and hard work, but I believe you can do it."

Sasuke smiled back at Kireina.

* * *

I've read a lot of stories about Naruto and sometimes I get those stories mixed up with the real storyline. One such example is the bit about the Mangekyou Sharingan being achieved by killing your best friend.I can't remember if that's true or if I read the in a story somewhere. Either way, I'm not the one who came up with it so credit goes to either the creator of Naruto or to the person that I accidently took it from XD Also, Itachi will definitely be very OOC in this story, because I love Itachi and I think Itachi is sooooo kakkoi (cool) and I think the Akatsuki is awesome too so that's why they're good in this. Like I said before, I started writing this story around chapter 240 something in the manga so the story follows the manga plotline up to around there. I know Itachi attacked Kakashi and stuff, but pretend he did all of that to keep his facade up. Sorry, but I didn't think it would do me any good to go back and explain every bad thing Itachi does in the manga/anime. 


	6. Team Gai

yoooohooo! hello :) okay. I'm done. It just felt a little weird not having anything up here.

**_Last chapter..._**

"Ano, Reina-nee-chan, when you use your Sharingan, I noticed that it's fully formed and you have the Mangekyou Sharingan. Who did you kill?" Sasuke asked.

Kireina smiled, "I didn't kill anyone. I just trained very hard, but I suppose you could say I killed nature. I loved nature and while I was training, I always trained near rivers and against trees. So I killed quite a few trees and bloodied a few rivers before I achieved Mangekyou Sharingan."

"Does that mean I can get it too, without killing my closest friend?" Sasuke asked.

Kireina smiled, "It requires much dedication and hard work, but I believe you can do it."

Sasuke smiled back at Kireina.

* * *

* * *

Kireina and the others returned to their journey. Sasuke was pretty quiet the entire way. When they reached the gates of Konoha they were surprised to see two ANBU waiting for them at the gates.

"Kakashi-san. Kireina-san," one ANBU bowed, "Hokage-sama sent us to look for you, but it looks like we don't have to."

"Hai. We'll go see her now," Kakashi said.

Team 7 and Kireina quickly made their way to the Hokage tower and enter her office.

Tsunade let out a sigh of relief as they entered, "I'm glad you're all safe. Did the Cloud give you much difficulty?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Iie. However, Hokage-sama, we met up with Itachi on our way home."

Tsunade smile slightly, "How is the little punk? He hasn't come to visit me in awhile."

The others minus Kireina looked surprised, "You know about him and Akatsuki?"

Tsunade nodded, "Hai. Gomen, Sasuke-kun, your brother asked me not to tell you. He said he wanted to tell you himself."

Sasuke shrugged, "It's okay."

Tsunade smiled, "Anyway, Kireina, how would you feel about becoming a permanent part of Team 7?"

Kireina's eyes were shining, "Could I?"

Tsunade smiled, "Of course."

Naruto clapped his hands and whooped, "Yosh! Our team is the strongest team now!"

Kireina turned to Naruto with a stern face, "That means that everyone will train even harder from now on. Kakashi, if you don't mind, I'd like to help train your team as well as you."

When Kakashi nodded his consent she continued, "I'll teach Kakashi whatever jutsus I know that he doesn't know yet. In return, he trains my taijutsu, which, quite frankly, still sucks. Sasuke, I'm going to train you in the use of the Sharingan and teach you some Uchiha family specials. Kakashi will train your ninjutsu and taijutsu. Sakura, I've heard your genjutsu is your best area so I will help you with that as well as help with your medical training. Kakashi will train your taijutsu and ninjutsu. Naruto, I'm going to train your manners and the way you act."

"NANI!" Naruto exclaimed, "How come I don't get to learn any cool jutsus!"

Kireina looked at Tsunade and asked, "Do they all know?"

Tsunade nodded.

Kireina turned back to the rest, "Because you have Jiraiya as your sensei as well as Kyuubi inside you."

Naruto looked surprised at this, "How did you know about Kyuubi?"

Kireina smiled. She bit her thumb and smeared her blood on the inside of her left arm before yelling, "Kuchiyose No Jutsu!"

'Why is she summoning something?' Sasuke wondered.

The smoke cleared to reveal a beautiful silver fox with purple eyes and, to everyone's surprise, nine tails.

"Everyone, this is Kyuune. She is Kyuubi's little twin sister, that is why she, too, has nine tails. Because she was born a few minutes after, she wasn't chosen to be one of the youma. So instead, she became one of the most powerful summonings as well as the queen of the beast summonings as well as all foxes. She's one of my favorites. Although Kyuubi is inside Naruto, Kyuune is still able to communicate with Kyuubi," Kireina introduced.

"She's gorgeous," Sakura whispered, "Is this what Kyuubi looks like?"

To everyone's surprise, except Kireina, the silver fox laughed, "Heck no. Kyuubi is a boy! He's red with gold eyes and the tips of his tail are black to signify him as the most powerful youma."

"Why did he attack Konoha?" Sasuke wanted to know.

Kyuune shook her head, "He didn't attack Konoha. Some stupid villagers from Cloud attacked him and he ran to Konoha to seek refuge in hopes of losing the Cloud ninjas. Instead, it turned out the Cloud had planned for this and sent scouts ahead to tell the Yondaime a demon was coming to destroy the village. So instead of finding peace, he discovered an army of shinobi and kunoichi waiting for him at the gates. He had no choice but to fight."

"Oh."

Kireina placed the three chuunin on Kyuune's back and instructed her to take them home. Kyuune nodded and leapt out the window.

Tsunade gasped, "We're at the very top of the tower! Those children will fall off!"

Kireina shook her head, "Kyuune will use her chakra to stick them onto her back."

Tsunade nodded, "Now. What do you need? I know there's something or else you wouldn't have sent the children away."

"I want to adopt Sasuke as my little brother," Kireina said.

Tsunade looked surprised, "Are you sure?"

Kireina nodded, "That boy has lived most of his life without any family. It's time he had some. I also want to adopt Naruto. He's gone through enough having Kyuubi inside him and the villagers shunning him."

Tsunade smiled, "I'll write up the papers for you right now. When do you plan on telling them this?"

Kireina smiled, "Sasuke's birthday is in 3 days. I'll tell them then. It can be Sasuke's birthday present. I understand Naruto hasn't had much of a birthday his entire life, so I'll tell him on Sasuke's birthday as well. Maybe Naruto will start to see that day as his birthday and we can celebrate it all together."

Tsunade nodded then reached into her desk and pulled out a bunch of papers. She quickly filled them out then handed them to Kireina to sign. After Kireina signed, they had Kakashi sign the witness line. The only thing left was the two boys' signatures.

_**Three days later...**_

Kireina woke up with the feeling of excitement bubbling up in her. Today was her little cousin's birthday! Hopefully he would like her present for him. She jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom to brush up. Then she went to the kitchen to make breakfast. As she passed by the living room she noticed Kakashi on the couch. He had a pillow over his face and his hitai-ate was off. The blanket he had been using had somehow ended up on the floor. Kireina frowned. It was cold today, he might get sick. She picked up his blanket and covered Kakashi neatly. Kireina wandered into the kitchen and looked through the cabinets to see what she would make for breakfast. She decided she had better make breakfast for the rest of Team 7 as well, they would be training hard today before taking Sasuke out for a birthday dinner. Within minutes she had breakfast laid out on the table right as Kakashi walked into the kitchen done with his morning rituals but still yawning. The two adults sat down to eat and when they were done, Kireina grabbed the adoption papers and well as 2 lunch boxes for her and Kakashi and 3 other boxes with breakfast for Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Kakashi and Kireina leisurely made their way to the training grounds. Due to Kireina's insistence, the two left early for training now that they didn't have to rush around the village disrupting everyone. Along the way, the two ran into Gai and his team heading out to the training grounds.

"AH!" Gai cried, "IT IS RARE TO SEE SUCH A LOVELY SIGHT THIS EARLY! THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL EXAMPLE OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH! IT MUST HAVE BEEN FATED FOR US TO MEET!"

Kireina edged away from the exuberant man who was obviously hitting on her but doing a bad job of it. Neji and Ten Ten looked away in annoyance but Lee was looking at his sensei with obvious awe shining in his eye.

Kakashi coughed lightly, "Yes, anyway. Namino Kireina, this is Maito Gai, one of Konoha's top taijutsu masters. The one with the hair in a ponytail is Hyuuga Neji, the girl is Ten Ten, and the Gai look-alike is Rock Lee."

Ten Ten waved tentatively at Kireina, while Neji merely nodded in acknowledgement. Lee gave her a welcome almost equal in exuberance to Gai's.

Kireina looked at Neji with interest, "A Hyuuga, eh?"

Neji stared right back at her, unabashed.

Kakashi nodded, "Hyuuga Neji was the number one rookie in his year and is known as the Hyuuga genius. He mastered the Hyuuga main family taijutsu style on his own at the age of 13. It is possible that the Hyuuga heiress, Hyuuga Hinata, may give up her position to him or share it with him. He is part of the branch family although his skills surpass most of the main family and are almost equal to Hiashi's."

Kireina nodded in approval, "I'd like to spar with him one day."

Neji snorted, "You're a kunoichi?"

Disdain was obvious in his voice. Over the last 2 years, Neji had changed and the main family and branch family had made amends, but he could still be arrogant towards those he thought were less than him. It didn't help that he had grown much taller and was now 5 feet 8 inches and all but towered over Kireina.

Kireina raised an eyebrow at this. In a flash she was behind Neji with his hair in her hands wound around his neck. One hard yank and Neji's neck would be broken. Ten Ten was amazed. Neji hadn't even had a chance to defend himself much less avoid the attack.

"Do you still want to challenge my position as a kunoichi?" Kireina asked in a deadly voice.

Although he didn't show it, Neji was surprised and impressed by this young woman.

He smirked, "I'd like to see how well you would do against my Byakugan."

Kireina hid a smile and released him turning to Gai, "Would your team be interested in training with Team 7 today?"

In a heartbeat, Gai was next to her holding her hands with hearts in his eyes. "We'd be happy to."

Kireina and Kakashi sweat dropped and the now enlarged group headed towards the training grounds. Sasuke and Naruto were sparring when they reached the place and Sakura had her nose buried in a book about medical jutsus. Surprisingly, Kurenai and Asuma's team were there as well.

Kakashi grinned, "Why don't we have a sparring day today? Then afterwards we can all go out to eat dinner together and celebrate Sasuke's birthday at the same time."

The other teams were quick to agree and within seconds, sparring partners had been paired up. Sasuke was with Hinata, Sakura against Lee, Kiba and Shikamaru, Ino and Ten Ten, Kakashi and Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, Chouji against Shino, and Neji was against Kireina. Much to his displeasure, Naruto had been told to practice walking with a stack of books on his head without dropping them. Soon, the training grounds were whirling with dust, kunai, and shuriken.

* * *

This chapter was a little shorter. Anyway, I love Neji. He's my favorite character but I had to have him be a little snotty so Kireina could put him in his place. She owns him in the next chapter :P 


	7. Sparring and Family

I'm not very good at writing Gai because quite frankly, he scares me so I tried my best. If anyone has anyone has suggestions on how I can better him, please help me :P

* * *

**_Previously..._**

He smirked, "I'd like to see how well you would do against my Byakugan."

Kireina hid a smile and released him turning to Gai, "Would your team be interested in training with Team 7 today?"

In a heartbeat, Gai was next to her holding her hands with hearts in his eyes. "We'd be happy to."

Kireina and Kakashi sweat dropped and the now enlarged group headed towards the training grounds. Sasuke and Naruto were sparring when they reached the place and Sakura had her nose buried in a book about medical jutsus. Surprisingly, Kurenai and Asuma's team were there as well.

Kakashi grinned, "Why don't we have a sparring day today? Then afterwards we can all go out to eat dinner together and celebrate Sasuke's birthday at the same time."

The other teams were quick to agree and within seconds, sparring partners had been paired up. Sasuke was with Hinata, Sakura against Lee, Kiba and Shikamaru, Ino and Ten Ten, Kakashi and Asuma, Kurenai and Gai, Chouji against Shino, and Neji was against Kireina. Much to his displeasure, Naruto had been told to practice walking with a stack of books on his head without dropping them. Soon, the training grounds were whirling with dust, kunai, and shuriken.

* * *

On with the story...

* * *

Kireina stood calmly against Neji while he dropped into a fighting stance holding out a kunai. 

He growled, "Aren't you going to fight?"

Kireina blinked as if the idea had never occurred to her. Before either could move however, the ground between the two of them erupted, showering dirt and rock on Neji and Kireina. Kakashi stood there sheepishly with a hand on the back of his head.

"Gomen ne," he apologized, "I'm running from Asuma."

Annoyed, Neji brushed off dirt from his clothes. Kireina merely shrugged from her place in the treetop.

Neji started, "When did you get up there?"

Kireina blinked as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "Well, the ground was shaking so that obviously meant an earth jutsu was about to take place so I moved."

Neji didn't answer, irritated that he hadn't even felt the ground so much as vibrate before Kakashi had shot out of the ground. Instead, he slipped back into a fighting stance. Kireina shrugged and neatly dropped out of the tree. Kakashi had long since disappeared to find Asuma. She stood there waiting for him to make a move. Neji quickly performed the seals for Byakugan and charged forward stopping a few feet in front of Kireina.

"You've obviously never fought against a Byakugan," Neji smirked, "You are within my field of divination."

Kireina smiled tightly, "Well, since I am in yours. You are obviously in mine as well. Actually, that's incorrect. You were in my field even before I dropped out of the tree."

Neji chuckled lightly, "Don't be silly. Only Hyuugas have fields of divination and you are not a Hyuuga."

Kireina shrugged, "Fine then. Try 'Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou' on me then."

Neji rolled his eyes, then charged at her yelling, "Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou" and began hitting her chakra opening points, but for some reason, every time he tried to land a blow, he would be stopped. Finally, he stopped.

Kireina smiled, "Is it my turn?"

Neji narrowed his eyes getting ready to use Kaiten if needed.

Kireina ran towards Neji and without shouting anything began striking his chakra opening points, closing all of them, finally delivering a Gentle Fist blow to his chest driving him back into a tree. He slumped over unconscious. Kireina calmly walked over and placed chakra infused hands over his chest and within seconds, he was awake again.

Neji blinked, "How did you do that?"

Kireina smiled gently, "Just because I'm not a Hyuuga in name, doesn't mean I'm not a Hyuuga in blood. My great-grandfather was Hyuuga Hitoshi, the grandfather of Hyuuga Hiashi and Hyuuga Hizashi, who, I believe, is your father, making you my cousin."

Neji was surprised at this bit of information.

"Don't be too quick to make judgments about people you don't know, Neji-kun. They may surprise you," Kireina chided kindly, "I've reopened your chakra points, but it will be a while before your chakra will start to circulate normally again."

She started to walk away, but Neji stopped her, "Wait! How did you stop my attacks on your opening points?"

Kireina smiled cheekily, "That is something you will have to learn on your own. Think about what you are doing when you use Kaiten and the answer will come to you."

Neji was completely lost, 'Kaiten? What does that have to do with anything?'

Neji frowned but hurried to catch up with Kireina as they returned to the rest of the group. Most were finished sparring. Gai was being held by a tree. Kurenai stood smirking in front of him. Sasuke was sitting against a boulder, Hinata healing his wounds for him. She looked pretty beaten up too. Neji was by her side in a second to make sure she was okay. Ten Ten, Lee, and Ino were being tended to by Sakura. Kakashi and Asuma were sitting up in a tree playing cards. Kiba and Chouji were passed out on the grass with Shikamaru observing the clouds next to them, looking annoyed. Shino sat next to them playing with his bugs. Kireina hurried to them and wasted no time in healing their wounds. Then she went to Hinata to show her how to heal Sasuke without wasting too much chakra, and then taught her how to heal herself.

"Don't heal his wounds completely," Kireina said, "A little pain is good for shinobi. This way you'll still have chakra left to heal more people. As long as they're in a shape where they can hold their own in a battle, then they're okay. You've healed Sasuke almost completely, even his little scratches. That's just wasting chakra and now you don't have enough for yourself. Did you close his chakra points?"

Hinata listened carefully and nodded in answer to Kireina's question.

Kireina smiled, "Good for you!" She placed her hand over Sasuke's chest and the glow enveloped him.

"I've reopened the majority of your chakra points and your chakra will begin circulating normally within a few minutes," Kireina told him gently.

Sasuke nodded, "Thanks Reina-nee-chan."

Kireina smiled and patted his head then teleported up to the tree where Asuma and Kakashi were sitting.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted without looking up from the game.

Kireina frowned, "Did you guys get hurt at all?"

Kakashi held up his right arm. A long gash was bleeding profusely. Asuma showed her his left arm which had a gash that was even longer and deeper than Kakashi's.

Kireina shrieked, "You guys could die from blood loss!"

Kakashi looked up at her and grinned cheekily, "I knew you would be up soon."

Kireina's jaw dropped open and the next thing you knew, Kakashi was on the ground, whining. Kireina dropped out of the tree next to him and slapped a hand over his wound, healing it and at the same time, inflicting more pain. Asuma followed having been healed before Kireina had kicked Kakashi out of the tree.

"Itai..." Kakashi grumbled, "Couldn't you have been a little nicer about expressing your anger?"

Kireina rolled her eyes then swiftly returned to Sasuke's side, "Where do you want to eat, love? It's your night."

Sasuke stared at her, "I don't really care. I don't know much."

Kireina frowned then turned to Kakashi, "What do you recommend?"

"Why don't we eat at the new restaurant across from Ichiraku?" Kakashi suggested, "I heard it was pretty good."

Kireina beamed at him as if he had just given her the world on a silver platter, "Excellent. We'll go there then."

The large group of ninjas headed down the streets of Konoha to the restaurant. Along the way, Kireina stopped several times to talk to the people. In the short time she had been in Konoha, she had already made a more than favorable impression on the citizens and she already held high places in several people's hearts. When they reached the restaurant, they were surprised to find Tsunade there waiting for them.

"Hokage-sama? What are you doing here?" Kurenai asked.

"I received a message from Kireina saying you all were having a celebration here so I decided to crash the party," Tsunade replied grinning.

"A message? But Reina-nee-chan was with us the entire time!" Naruto blurted out.

Tsunade only smiled mysteriously before opening the door for the group, "Hurry and come in! It's cold outside! Tonight will be my treat. By the way, happy birthday Sasuke!"

Sasuke blinked in surprise. Kireina nudged him gently and he quickly mumbled a word of thanks to Tsunade. Kireina beamed at her "little brother" and quickly herded everyone into the restaurant. The host of the restaurant was a little surprised at receiving a party this large in size without a reservation, but luckily, there was an empty private room that was available for their use. When everyone was seated at the table, Kireina ordered a variety of dishes, including ramen for Naruto.

Kireina cleared her throat and stood nervously, "Um, good evening everyone! As you all probably know, today is Sasuke's birthday and I figured now would be as good a time as any to present him with his birthday present. That is, if he's willing to accept it."

Sasuke was surprised and hesitantly took the flat package Kireina had wrapped. The others at the table murmured amongst themselves wondering what kind of present needed the acceptance of the receiver. Sasuke hesitantly pulled back the wrapping paper and was greeted with the sight of a large manila envelope. He glanced at Kireina questioningly and she gave him a hesitant smile as well as the go ahead to open it. She was crumpling a light blue handkerchief nervously in her hand and her other hand was gripping Kakashi's shoulder in what looked to be a painful hold. Sasuke opened the envelope and pulled out a stack of papers. Everyone waited with bated breaths to see what it was. Sasuke scanned the papers and as he continued to read the more confused he was.

He looked up at Kireina; "These are..." He trailed off unable to finish his sentence.

Kireina rushed ahead, "Of course, you have to agree because I would never force you to do something like that. Take as long as you need to think about it, but I just thought it'd be a nice change."

Everyone wondered what she was babbling about and was surprised when Sasuke suddenly jumped out of his chair and like lightning, threw himself at Kireina. Kireina was shocked at first but when she realized the impact of his actions, tears began to fill her eyes. She quickly parted herself from Sasuke and looked at him.

"How would you feel if I gave Naruto the same present?" she asked softly.

Sasuke looked up at her open-mouthed then did something for the first time in a long time, he smiled. Not a smirk, but a real smile.

"I'd like that," he said softly, "And I think Naruto would too."

Naruto was completely lost, "Nani (What)? Nani? Give me what?"

Kireina reached andpulled another manila envelope seemingly out of nowhere. She passed it to Naruto. The first thing Naruto did when he read the papers was bawl. Then he launched himself at Kireina and hugged her fiercely.

"I've always wanted a family," Naruto said.

Now everyone was really confused.

"Wait, back up a little. Family?" Sakura questioned.

Kireina beamed at her, "That's right. I've just adopted these two as my little brothers. All that's needed to make the adoption official is the signature of these two young men."

Naruto eagerly took the pen Tsunade handed to him and signed the papers with flourish. Sasuke took the other pen and signed his papers as well, although he was slightly more shaken than Naruto. Kireina beamed again, then wrapped her arms around her two brothers and hugged them warmly.

Tsunade stepped up, "I have a present for you all as well. A shinobi family has just recently moved to Kirigakure, so their house is now open for the use of another shinobi family. I have reserved the house for you three. The house is across the street and a couple of houses down from Kakashi's house. If you want it, all I need is your signature right here."

Tsunade produced a single sheet of paper also seemingly out of nowhere and placed it in front of Kireina. Kireina was near tears again, she reached over and hugged Tsunade and thanked her profusely, signing the sheet with a slight trembling in her hand.

Kireina turned to Kakashi, "Thank you for your hospitality this past week, Kakashi. I hope I haven't put you out."

Kakashi waved it off, "Maa, it was no problem. I'll miss having a wonderful cook."

Kireina laughed lightly, "You'll have to come over for dinner every night then."

Kakashi winked mischievously, "I'll plan on that and some dessert too. Preferably some eye candy?"

Everyone gasped at the last remark and Kireina turned bright red before whacking Kakashi upside the head and reaching into his front pocket and taking his book out,

"That's it! No more of these books for you," she grumbled furiously.

She took the book and threw it in the trashcan. When Kakashi tried to get it, she easily intercepted him and pushed him into his chair just as their waiter came back with the dishes. The rest of the night was filled with much fun and laughter and of course, plenty of teasing Kireina on Kakashi's part. That night Sasuke and Naruto headed separate ways for the last time.

* * *

hahaha. Sorry -sweatdrop- I made Neji a HUUUUUGE pansy in this. He'll get better, I promise, but I just had to have Kireina put Neji in his place because it's fun :P Sasuke's a little pansy in this chapter too, but that's cuz he likes Hinata and doesn't want to hurt her and also, I really like Hinata so I made her get stronger. Also, I can't write perverted Kakashi because I always want to huggle him :)...but I'll do my best :P Anyway, next chapter get ready for a ginormous time jump. :P 


	8. 7 Months Later

WAAAAHHH! finals were crazy and then I went on vacation so that's why there were no updates recently...Anyhoo...**_

* * *

Previously..._**

Tsunade produced a single sheet of paper also seemingly out of nowhere and placed it in front of Kireina. Kireina was near tears again, she reached over and hugged Tsunade and thanked her profusely, signing the sheet with a slight trembling in her hand.

Kireina turned to Kakashi, "Thank you for your hospitality this past week, Kakashi. I hope I haven't put you out."

Kakashi waved it off, "Maa, it was no problem. I'll miss having a wonderful cook."

Kireina laughed lightly, "You'll have to come over for dinner every night then."

Kakashi winked mischievously, "I'll plan on that and some dessert too. Preferably some eye candy?"

Everyone gasped at the last remark and Kireina turned bright red before whacking Kakashi upside the head and reaching into his front pocket and taking his book out,

"That's it! No more of these books for you," she grumbled furiously.

She took the book and threw it in the trashcan. When Kakashi tried to get it, she easily intercepted him and pushed him into his chair just as their waiter came back with the dishes. The rest of the night was filled with much fun and laughter and of course, plenty of teasing Kireina on Kakashi's part. That night Sasuke and Naruto headed separate ways for the last time.

* * *

On with the story!**_

* * *

_****_7 months later..._**

"Aiiiiieeeee! Reina-nee-chan! Why didn't you wake me up?" a howl sounded throughout Konoha as its number one most unpredictable ninja shot out of his bed and hurtled into the bathroom.

Kireina blinked in surprise from where she sat at the kitchen table. Sasuke looked up in annoyance at being interrupted from his breakfast.

"Ten bucks says he forgot you guys aren't meeting today," Kireina said conversationally.

Sasuke snorted, "I'd be stupid to bet against that."

Over the past 7 months, the two boys had grown remarkably, both physically and maturely. Sasuke now stood at 6 feet 1 inch, 6 inches shorter than Kakashi. Although Naruto was still shorter, he was catching up fast. He was now 5 feet 10 inches compared to the 4 feet 11 inches he had been in his genin days. Kireina, of course, had already reached her growth limit a long time ago. The only difference in her physique was the fact that her hair was longer now, but you could rarely tell since she always had it in a bun. She worked at the hospital every other day now and helped out with Team 7's training whenever she could. Sasuke, Naruto, and Kireina had become a close little family. Kakashi frequently visited so he was practically part of their family as well. During their time together, Kireina had managed to calm Naruto's hyperactive personality down a little but not much. Sasuke had opened up a lot more and he could stand talking to the same person for longer than 5 minutes and without the use of "Hn". Although the two boys still fought constantly and ceaselessly, at the end of each night, the little family would always spend some time together before bidding each other good night. Kireina made sure to shower both boys with equal affection, but was sure to discipline them when needed as well.

"I hear him coming," Sasuke commented.

Kireina sighed, "Trip him, but not too hard."

Sasuke made no motion as to whether or not he heard but a few seconds later when a yellow, orange and black blur flew down the stairs, Sasuke easily stuck a foot out sending Naruto crashing to the floor.

Kireina winced, "I thought I said not too hard."

Sasuke gave her look, "How do you control how hard someone falls when they trip?"

Kireina paused, "Err...good question. Naruto, did you forget you have no meeting today?"

Naruto looked up from his place on the floor and gazed adoringly at the young woman who had taken him in and given him a home. Then he turned to glare fiercely at Sasuke.

"You baka! What did you do that for?" He yelled, completely ignoring Kireina's question.

"Naruto!" Kireina reprimanded sharply, "What did I say about ignoring those that speak to you? And what did I ALSO say about calling people names? _Especially_ your own brother."

Naruto stopped his onslaught and had the sense to look ashamed, "Gomen Reina-nee-chan."

Kireina gave him a pointed look and Naruto pouted childishly before turning to Sasuke and apologizing.

Kireina's frown turned into a bright smile, "Your breakfast is already set out. Remember you don't have a meeting today? I thought after yesterday's mission, you could use some rest, so I didn't bother waking you."

"Arigato, Nee-chan!" Naruto chirped happily, "Itadakimasu!"

Kireina shook her head. It was hard to believe that Naruto was already sixteen. Naruto's birthday was only a few months after Sasuke's so her two boys were both officially sixteen. Kireina frowned. There was no meeting today, so why did it feel as if she was forgetting something important? Suddenly it hit her.

"Crap," Kireina muttered.

She shot out of her chair and began clearing the table ignoring Naruto's protests of not having licked his plate yet.

"You're not supposed to do that, remember?" Kireina scolded Naruto while loading the dishes into the washer and quickly cleaning up the kitchen.

"Come on boys! We have to get going if we're going to find a present in time for the party!" Kireina ordered, "Go wash your hands and comb your hair a little Naruto. You too, Sasuke!"

The two boys hurried to do her bidding and came back within minutes for her inspection. Only then did Naruto think to ask her the question that had been pressing on his mind.

"Ne, Reina-nee-chan...why are we shopping for a present? And what party?" Naruto questioned.

Kireina paused in her inspection of Sasuke and turned a fierce look onto Naruto, "Don't you guys remember WHY our meeting was cancelled today?"

Naruto shrank back slightly from her intense gaze and shrugged.

"It's Sakura's birthday, dobe," Sasuke reminded Naruto.

He waited patiently as Kireina pulled at his clothing; straightening his shirt and pulling his pants up so they didn't look like they were about to fall off. Sasuke scowled when Kireina pulled his black pants up. He defiantly pulled them back down. When Kireina turned her glare on him, he stood his ground for a few seconds before meekly pulling his pants back up and belting it. Kireina stepped back and gave her little brothers a look over then beamed brightly.

"My little brothers are going to be the handsomest gentlemen at that party tonight," Kireina declared.

"What about me?" a voice spoke up from their window.

"Haven't you ever heard of the door Kashi-kun?" Kireina asked without turning.

"The what?"

Kireina snorted then turned towards Kakashi who leapt off the windowsill into the kitchen.

"You really should lock your windows," Kakashi observed, "What if I had been a Cloud ninja?"

Kireina snorted again in a very unladylike manner, "Then you wouldn't have even gotten as far as opening the window. Yuki and Daisuke are in the backyard."

Kakashi paled at prospect of being mauled by the two lions before resuming his cheery look.

"All ready for the party, my lady?"

"I'm not your lady. We still have to get Sakura's present," Kireina informed the silver-haired jounin.

Kakashi smirked, "I already got her present. A little behind on the chores are we?"

"Oh you be quiet you old fart," Kireina huffed.

Kakashi pretended to be offended, "My, my! Such language coming from a young lady! And I resent that "old" comment. Just because—"

"—you have silver hair doesn't mean your old," Kireina finished, "Yes, yes, we know!"

Kakashi looked thoughtful, "You know, "old fart" aren't the prettiest words coming from a person's mouth you know. They shouldn't be coming from such a beautiful mouth. And might I add, a very kissable one too."

He was next to Kireina's side in a flash winking at her. Kireina seemed flustered for a brief second before snarling, "I never said you could add."

"Oh but I can! 1+12! 2+24!" Kakashi said merrily.

Kireina hit her head against the cupboard, "Why did I say he was allowed to visit whenever?"

"Because you secretly adore me," Kakashi replied before placing a quick cloth-covered kiss on Kireina's cheek.

Naruto and Sasuke shrieked at that last action having stayed quiet throughout the entire banter. Kireina's face was as red as a cherry and she looked shocked. Kakashi merely leaned against the door and pulled out a book. Kireina quickly recovered when she saw what book it was. She frowned.

"What did I say about reading those books?" Kireina growled.

Kakashi paused and looked up as if trying to remember, "Oh yeah, no reading them. Oops! Forgot!"

He tried to stuff it in his pocket in a hurry, but it was too late. Kireina held a hand out and the book flew from Kakashi's hands into Kireina's hands. Sasuke and Naruto gaped at her as did Kakashi.

"I've never seen that before!" Kakashi mused, "It's certainly not a jutsu."

Kireina stuck her tongue out. She held the book with one hand while the other flew through a series of seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

She was able to control the amount of fire produced so she only used a little to set the offending book on fire. Kakashi frowned at Kireina and was probably pouting but his mask covered his face from being seen.

"Nee-chan! How did you take Kakashi's book from him?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Even Sasuke seemed interested in knowing.

Kireina laughed, "Chakra. I control my chakra and I can make it do what I want. Just then I made my chakra bring the book to me."

Sasuke frowned, "But I didn't see any chakra."

"Of course not! Do you think I would let others see it?" Kireina smiled, "Now, enough talking. Let's go get Sakura's present!"

* * *

Kireina's secrets are starting to be revealed. -squeals- kakaka :) Anyway, she's a girl with many secrets, so it'll probably take many chapters before all of them are revealed. As for my NejiOC pairing, that'll come eventually :) I just don't know which chapter it'll be in. It's not anytime soon though. Hokey dokes! See ya :P 


	9. Decorating and All That

hehehehe. :) When I first decided to upload this story on ffnet, I told myself I wouldn't get all freaked out about the reviews, but receiving reviews makes me strangely giddy. hehehehehehe :) Thanks for the reviews guys! heehehehehe :)

* * *

**_Previously..._**

Kireina hit her head against the cupboard, "Why did I say he was allowed to visit whenever?"

"Because you secretly adore me," Kakashi replied before placing a quick cloth-covered kiss on Kireina's cheek.

Naruto and Sasuke shrieked at that last action having stayed quiet throughout the entire banter. Kireina's face was as red as a cherry and she looked shocked. Kakashi merely leaned against the door and pulled out a book. Kireina quickly recovered when she saw what book it was. She frowned.

"What did I say about reading those books?" Kireina growled.

Kakashi paused and looked up as if trying to remember, "Oh yeah, no reading them. Oops! Forgot!"

He tried to stuff it in his pocket in a hurry, but it was too late. Kireina held a hand out and the book flew from Kakashi's hands into Kireina's hands. Sasuke and Naruto gaped at her as did Kakashi.

"I've never seen that before!" Kakashi mused, "It's certainly not a jutsu."

Kireina stuck her tongue out. She held the book with one hand while the other flew through a series of seals.

"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

She was able to control the amount of fire produced so she only used a little to set the offending book on fire. Kakashi frowned at Kireina and was probably pouting but his mask covered his face from being seen.

"Nee-chan! How did you take Kakashi's book from him?" Naruto asked excitedly.

Even Sasuke seemed interested in knowing.

Kireina laughed, "Chakra. I control my chakra and I can make it do what I want. Just then I made my chakra bring the book to me."

Sasuke frowned, "But I didn't see any chakra."

"Of course not! Do you think I would let others see it?" Kireina smiled, "Now, enough talking. Let's go get Sakura's present!"

* * *

And the story continues...:)

* * *

The group set out and their first stop was the Yamanaka flower shop.

"Ohayo Kireina-san!" Ino greeted, "What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for some flowers for Sakura," Kireina told her.

Ino smiled brightly, "A new bunch of her favorite flowers just came in today! I'll wrap them for you."

"Thanks!"

Ten minutes later, Kireina and her little family walked out of the flower shop with Kakashi holding a bundle of pink flowers. Their next stop was the book store. Kireina found what she was looking for and asked them to wrap it.

"Okay boys, time for you to go find a present for her! I'm sure she won't mind if you guys joint give her a present," Kireina said cheerfully, "Kakashi and I will be at the coffee shop."

Kireina gave them some money and then pushed them on their way. Sasuke and Naruto looked a little lost before Kakashi suggested they go to an art store or a medical ninja supply store. Sasuke headed toward the supply store while Naruto opted for the art store. The two got in an argument about which direction they should go.

"Boys, both of the stores are in the same direction," Kireina sighed, "As a matter of fact, they're right next to each other."

Naruto and Sasuke paused in their fighting then both had the decency to blush slightly before mumbling a quick thanks and heading in the direction Sasuke had been going. Kireina shook her head then dragged Kakashi down the street to the coffee shop. The two of them made an odd sight, but not an unpleasant one. More than one head turned as they watched a fairly small young woman drag a tall young man down the street. Kireina sighed in contentment as she sank into the booth at the coffee store. She immediately sat up again when she sensed another chakra presence behind her. It wasn't normal chakra either. This was obviously the chakra of a ninja because it felt as if it were trained. What made it even stranger was the fact that it felt like the chakra was building up in one place as if ready to be released as a jutsu. She silently activated her Byakugan noting the Cloud forehead protector the ninja was hiding under his cloak and lightly nudged Kakashi under the table as a warning.

"So, what did you get Sakura?" Kireina asked casually.

"I'm not telling," Kakashi grinned seemingly with ease, "You'll find out at the party. Plus, you burned my book."

"Let's put that event _behind us_," Kireina replied lightly emphasizing the "behind us".

Kakashi caught the message and said in a disgruntled tone, "Fine. I'm going to the restroom to wash my hands. They smell like flowers."

Kireina knew his real purpose was to see if the ninja behind them had any ill intent or if he was there for a treaty. She heard a yelp behind her and immediately knew it was the first. She sprang up and turned to the ninja that was behind her. Kakashi was holding the ninja by the head with one of his arms behind his back, a kunai held in it.

"What are you doing here?" Kireina asked him.

The other customers in the coffee shop were surprised but relaxed when they saw two of Konoha's best ninjas handling the situation. When the captured ninja refused to answer Kireina sighed.

"Let's take him to the Hokage," she said.

Kakashi nodded. Kireina got the flowers for Sakura and the two of them left, taking the Cloud nin with them. Kireina entered Tsunade's office only to find her sleeping. Kireina sighed before lightly shaking her awake. Tsunade was up in a flash and ready to work.

"So, what can I do for you, Reina?" Tsunade asked.

Kireina went to the door and motioned Kakashi to bring in the captive. Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the sight of the disgruntled nin.

"Kakashi and I were having coffee when we noticed this guy with a kunai about to attack someone," Kireina explained.

"Why are you here?" Tsunade asked.

The nin stared blankly at her before turning his head towards Kireina and scowling. Kireina merely stared back, unfazed by the look of contempt. When the nin realized she wasn't back down he looked down at the floor.

"I can't believe I got pinned by some old guy and caught by a girl," he muttered.

Kakashi protested, "I'm not old!"

Kireina frowned at the sexist remark but said nothing. She went outside and called a chuunin over to the office.

"Go get Morino Ibiki will you? Thanks."

The chuunin quickly went to get the captain of interrogation and torture and within seconds, returned with a frowning Ibiki. It seemed to be that he had been interrupted during lunch. Kireina bowed towards him.

"Gomen for interrupting your lunch, Ibiki-san. Kakashi and I caught a cloud nin who won't state his purpose for being here," Kireina apologized.

Ibiki's lips curled into a cynical smile. He strode into the room. The cloud nin's eyes widened at the sight of him. Apparently, Ibiki's reputation as a pro at interrogation and torture preceded him. One look from Ibiki and the cloud nin caved.

"I was sent to assassinate a Namino Kireina," the cloud nin confessed.

"Why?" Ibiki prodded.

"It was a mission. It was only supposed to be a B-class mission," the ninja whined, "I've been a jounin for barely even 3 months. I guess they didn't realize she would have a jounin boyfriend."

Kireina coughed at the last comment, "He's not my boyfriend."

Kakashi merely winked and grinned, "Aw, don't be shy, sweetie."

Kireina glared at Kakashi and if looks could kill, Kakashi would have been mincemeat.

"Tell me, mister nin, has the Hidden Cloud ever heard of the Bloodline Ninja?" Ibiki asked conversationally.

The cloud nin looked confused for a second, "Well, yes, but few of us have seen him before."

Ibiki smiled cynically again, "Well, congratulations. You're the first in your village to meet HER and live then."

Ibiki turned the nin's head toward Kireina who was smiling cheerily and holding up a peace sign. The cloud nin gawked and gawked and still kept gawking. Finally Kakashi got sick of the staring so he neatly stepped into the captive's line of vision. The cloud nin quickly turned back towards Ibiki, only to find him already gone. He blinked in surprise. Tsunade cleared her throat catching the attention of the captive.

"We'll let you go this time. I'm sure your own Kage will punish you accordingly for failing a mission. Give your Kage this scroll will you? Thanks," Tsunade said pleasantly, "Kakashi, Kireina; do you two have anything at this moment? If you don't, would you be so kind to escort this man outside of Konoha's gates?"

"Well, actually, Sasuke and Naruto are probably looking for us now," Kireina replied, "We sent them to look for a present for Sakura and they should be getting to the coffee shop right about now. I'm sure Yuki and Daisuke would be happy to help though."

The two lions were sitting idly on the windowsill and at the sound of their names, leapt into the room. The cloud nin gulped visibly as the two lions began to sniff him.

"He smells bad," Yuki commented.

Kireina stifled a giggle, "Take him outside of Konoha's gates and make sure he doesn't do anything funny okay?"

Yuki and Daisuke nodded and then Daisuke picked the cloud nin up in his teeth by his shirt and then the two jumped out the window. After they left, Tsunade turned to Konoha's two best jounin with a grin.

"So, why were the two of you having coffee together?"

Kakashi grinned and sneakily snaked an arm around the surprised Kireina's waist, "It's a secret date."

There was a loud smack and the next thing you knew, Kakashi was on the floor holding his head whining "Itai!" Kireina stood above him her right eye twitching. Tsunade laughed at the sight.

"You two are so cute together. Don't let him get away Kireina," Tsunade teased.

Kireina's mouth fell open at this comment before she groaned and then grabbed Sakura's flowers with one hand and dragged Kakashi out of the office with the other. Tsunade was left in her office chuckling at the antics of the two jounin. Meanwhile, Kireina had teleported her and Kakashi back to the coffee shop where Sasuke and Naruto were looking for them wildly. When the two of them appeared, Naruto and Sasuke were by her side in a flash.

"Sorry, guys. Kakashi and I caught a cloud nin trying to assassinate me so we went to the Hokage's office," Kireina explained as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

"Assassinate?" Naruto exploded.

Sasuke's eye twitched but other than that his face remained stoic.

"Hai. Kakashi caught him before he could do anything though," Kireina told them.

"What happened to Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked glancing at Kakashi who was still on the floor.

It was Kireina's eye's turn to twitch again as she replied, "He was being himself."

Naruto and Sasuke wisely remained quiet at this comment. Kakashi had gotten up off the floor and seemed to have returned to his normal cheerful self again.

Kireina clapped her hands, "So! Did the two of you find a suitable present for Sakura?"

The two boys nodded and Naruto said, "It's a medical kit that can hold everything a medic nin would need for 4 days. It has a jutsu on it that makes it shrink to fit wherever you want to put it."

Kireina smiled approvingly, "A very good choice. Now, let's go to Sakura's house and see if she needs any help with house cleaning or decoration."

When the four ninjas got there, they saw Hinata was already there helping Sakura.

"Kireina-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! Naruto! Sasuke-kun!" Sakura squealed jumping down from the ladder and running to give Kireina a big hug.

"Happy Birthday Sakura! We came to see if you could use any help! Where should we put your presents?" Kireina asked.

"Thank you! Just give them to my mom and she'll put them wherever she's been putting them," Sakura giggled, "Actually, we could use a lot of help. Hinata and I are having trouble putting up the banner. The tape won't stick and neither of us are tall enough to hang it very high, even with the help of the ladder."

Kireina nodded, "Come on Kakashi."

She quickly climbed up the ladder Sakura had been on while Kakashi quietly teleported up the other ladder.

"Konnichiwa, Hinata-san!" Kakashi greeted cheerily.

Hinata smiled, "Konnichiwa, Kakashi-sensei! Thank you for helping!"

"It's no problem!" Kakashi said picking her up easily, "Oy! Sasuke! Catch!"

Sasuke looked up just in time to see Kakashi drop Hinata towards him. Sasuke quickly jumped up and caught Hinata and set her down on the ground. Hinata was red in the face and had started to poke her index fingers together like she used to do in her genin days. Sasuke quickly grabbed her hands and stopped the poking before resuming what he had been doing. Hinata blinked in surprise before going to the kitchen to help Sakura's mom with the cooking.

"Kakashi! What were you thinking? What if Hinata had gotten hurt?" Kireina scolded.

Kakashi chuckled, "Nah. Sasuke wouldn't let his 'beloved' break even a fingernail, much less get hurt from falling off a ladder."

Kireina rolled her eyes at his not so subtle remark about the crush Sasuke had on Hinata, "You mean, get hurt from being THROWN off a ladder?"

Kakashi waved his hand, "It's the same thing. Either way, it's off the ladder."

Kireina rolled her eyes, "Now let's see. Tape won't stick. Kunai? No, too noticeable and dangerous. Shuriken? It'd be pretty, but it would cut clean through the top of the banner."

Her eyes lit up. She quickly pulled out the pins in her hair throwing two to Kakashi. The pins immediately became senbon which Kakashi caught easily.

"Hey! What's the deal?" Kakashi asked.

"Use them to pin the banner!" Kireina explained.

She used her chakra to hold the banner up higher seeing as how she was the same height as Sakura and Hinata then threw two senbon in the upper right corner of the banner. Kakashi followed her example and within seconds, the two adults were on the floor admiring they're handiwork. Sakura entered the living room from the kitchen.

"Wow! Thanks Kireina-sensei and Kakashi-sensei!"

Kireina smiled merrily, "Is there anything your mother needs help with?"

"She's cooking right now. I think she'll appreciate whatever help she can get," Sakura informed her.

Kireina nodded, "What are Naruto and Sasuke doing?"

Sakura rolled her eyes, "They're SUPPOSED to be in the backyard setting up games and stuff, but an argument's probably broken out."

Kireina nodded and turned to Kakashi only to find him already gone. She smiled softly before going into the kitchen to help Sakura's mom.

"Konnichiwa, Haruno-san!" Kireina greeted.

Sakura's mom turned in surprise before smiling and greeting Kireina, "Just call me Hana."

"Arigato, Hana-san! What can I help you with?" Kireina asked.

"Do you know how to bake?" Hana asked.

"Yes, I do! What would you like me to bake?" Kireina asked.

"Well, I've been working on dinner all morning and I don't know if I'll be able to get to the cake. So could you be a dear and make it?" Hana asked.

"Of course! Sakura likes chocolate right?" Kireina got to work.

"Um, Haruno-san, I'm done peeling the carrots and shelling the peas. Would you like me to help Kireina-san with the cake?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

Hana smiled gently, "Actually, Hinata, why don't you go outside and help the guys out. Sakura told me you're a wonderful peacemaker and negotiator. From what I've heard about Sasuke and Naruto, I'm sure you will come in handy."

Hinata nodded and then quickly washed her hands and went to the backyard to help the guys. Sakura looked after her almost enviously before returning to her work. She might have given up on Sasuke, but that didn't mean she couldn't still dote on him! XD

* * *

When Kireina and Kakashi are pinning up the banner, I didn't know how to describe it without seeming to wordy. When Kireina was thinking about shuriken cutting through the banner, what I meant was that since shuriken sharp and bladed, not just pointy, if she were to stick that in the wall, the blade on the shuriken would cut through the banner. I stilldon't think I did a good job of explaining that...Sorry for the confusion! 


	10. FIRE!

**_Previously..._**

Kireina nodded and turned to Kakashi only to find him already gone. She smiled softly before going into the kitchen to help Sakura's mom.

"Konnichiwa, Haruno-san!" Kireina greeted.

Sakura's mom turned in surprise before smiling and greeting Kireina, "Just call me Hana."

"Arigato, Hana-san! What can I help you with?" Kireina asked.

"Do you know how to bake?" Hana asked.

"Yes, I do! What would you like me to bake?" Kireina asked.

"Well, I've been working on dinner all morning and I don't know if I'll be able to get to the cake. So could you be a dear and make it?" Hana asked.

"Of course! Sakura likes chocolate right?" Kireina got to work.

"Um, Haruno-san, I'm done peeling the carrots and shelling the peas. Would you like me to help Kireina-san with the cake?" Hinata asked hesitantly.

Hana smiled gently, "Actually, Hinata, why don't you go outside and help the guys out. Sakura told me you're a wonderful peacemaker and negotiator. From what I've heard about Sasuke and Naruto, I'm sure you will come in handy."

Hinata nodded and then quickly washed her hands and went to the backyard to help the guys. Sakura looked after her almost enviously before returning to her work. She might have given up on Sasuke, but that didn't mean she couldn't still dote on him! XD

* * *

On with the story!

* * *

A few hours later, the cake was in the oven, baking, and the guys and Hinata had come in and were seated around the kitchen table drinking lemonade. 

"Sasuke! Come help your nee-chan," Kireina called from the living room.

Sasuke set down his drink and silently went to see what his sister wanted. Kakashi followed him to see what was up. Kireina was on a ladder holding up crepe paper to the ceiling. Kireina threw down a couple of shuriken.

"The tape won't stick the crepe paper up either. Can you throw the shuriken to pin it?" Kireina instructed him.

Sasuke nodded but looked worry. Kireina noticed this and smiled gently.

"Don't worry Sasuke. I'm sure you won't hurt me."

Sasuke took a shuriken and with a flick of a wrist, the shuriken flew through the air, pinning the crepe paper to the ceiling. This went on for quite some time and soon, a creative design decorated the ceiling of Sakura's ceiling. Kireina beamed. However her smile disappeared as she felt herself lose her balance and begin to fall. Thinking quickly she twisted her body so she would land on her hands and knees. She was about to flip herself so she would land on her feet but before she could she found herself in the arms of a certain silver-haired jounin.

Kakashi smiled merrily, "Konnichiwa (Goodafternoon or hello)Reina-chan! Are you okay?"

Kireina gaped, "Yes, I'm fine, thank you. You know I could have caught myself right?"

Kakashi's lone visible eye arched into a half moon, "Of course I knew that! But then I would miss the opportunity of being able to say you let me hold you."

Kireina scowled then hit Kakashi upside his head.

Sasuke appeared next to the two jounin, "Nee-chan! Are you okay?"

Kireina waved her hand distractedly, "Yes, of course. Thank you for asking, dear."

A loud crash resounded from the kitchen. Kireina, Kakashi, and Sasuke exchanged glances before hurrying to the kitchen to see what was wrong. When they entered, they found Naruto sprawled on the floor rubbing his head and Sakura standing above him trying desperately to keep her cool and had obviously already failed to do so one time.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto whined rubbing his head, "That hurt!"

Sakura twitched, "It was supposed to baka!"

"Oy! What'd you do this time, dobe?" Sasuke asked walking over to help Naruto up.

"Sasuke!" Kireina warned in a sharp tone.

Sasuke ducked his head guiltily before grabbing Naruto's arm and pulling him up, dragging him to their sister. Kireina checked him for injuries and after finding no life-threatening ones, reached up to pat his head then gave him a piece of candy which brightened his spirits immediately.

Kakashi sighed, "I still can't believe the three of them are all already sixteen. They certainly don't act like it!"

Kireina nodded, "I wonder if I acted like that when I was sixteen."

"I highly doubt it. An ANBU captain acting like that would mean certain death," Kakashi laughed.

Kireina stuck her tongue out at Kakashi before turning to her brothers, "Come loves, you still have to get dressed for the party! You, too, Kakashi! The clothes are at my house."

"What? We have to dress up?" Naruto whined.

Kireina laughed at his childishness, "Of course! This is a girl's sweet sixteenth we're talking about here!"

"Then why'd you inspect us and all that before we left the house?" Naruto stuck his tongue out.

Kireina stuck her tongue out back at him, "Young men should always look nice no matter what."

The four of them left the Haruno resident. Kireina paused on the way out the door and turned to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan, why don't you come with us? You're about my height, I'm sure you would fit into my clothing. We can dress you up, too!" Kireina invited.

"A-Ano, w-would that b-be alright?" Hinata asked; her stutter back.

Kireina beamed and held a hand out which Hinata hesitantly took, and then 5 ninjas of Konoha set out towards the Namino house. When they got to the house Kireina herded the boys into their separate room telling them their clothes had already been laid out by Yuki. Kireina directed Kakashi toward the guest room and then took Hinata into her own room. 10 minutes passed and Sasuke, Naruto, and Kakashi were all waiting downstairs for the appearance of the two ladies. Sasuke wore a black button down dress shirt with khaki slacks and Naruto wore a blue dress shirt with black pants. Kakashi stood next to them secretly reading another copy of his book. He wore a silver dress shirt with black pants. His mask had somehow turned silver as well and his hitai-ate was still tilted crookedly over his Sharingan. None of the three guys had kunai or shuriken holsters but all three hid the weapons elsewhere. You could never be too prepared.

The guys heard footsteps on the stairs and immediately straightened up, Kakashi putting his book away hastily. Hinata and Kireina appeared on the stairs. It looked as if Kireina were trying to coax Hinata into the living room. Hinata's face was bright red and it wasn't from makeup. She wore a simple black strapless dress that reached to her knees with tiny white flowers embroidered onto the hem of the dress and she had a white, filmy scarf wrapped around her neck. Her forehead protector was tied around her left arm. The black contrasted nicely with her pale skin and eyes while the scarf accented the blue highlights in her black hair. Kireina beamed. She had finally managed to convince Hinata to allow her to put light makeup on her and the effect was terrific.

Kireina herself was wearing a shimmery silver spaghetti strap dress that reached a little below her knees. She had a white shawl wrapped around her shoulders. The ironic thing was that her dress was the same shade as her eyes and the streaks in her hair as well as the same shade as Kakashi's hair, mask, and shirt. The thing that surprised the three young men at the bottom of the stairs the most was her hair. She had let her hair down and because it was always in a bun, it fell in soft waves around her face and shoulders reaching to almost mid back. She still had about half of her hair pinned up in a bun though with the ever present chopsticks and hairpins.

"Eh? Reina-nee-chan! When did you get that forehead protector?" Naruto asked pointing at the protector around her neck.

Kireina laughed and said teasingly, "I've had that for a long time Naruto. What kind of ninja are you if you didn't notice it?"

Sasuke stared at the leaf symbol and grinned, "You've had it around your waist huh? It was above your sash!"

Kireina beamed, "Good Sasuke! That's right. You all probably didn't notice it because the knot on my sash always blocked the metal plate so the protector always blended in with the black of my skirt."

Hinata had started to do the finger thing again and in a split second, Sasuke was by her side with a hand holding her fingers to stop the action. Hinata stared at him blankly.

"When you do that, it lets everyone know you're nervous," Sasuke explained.

Hinata blinked and then slowly dropped her hands.

Kakashi laughed, "Look! You two match!"

Everyone looked at Sasuke and Hinata and saw the matching colors.

"And you, my lady, are my match," Kakashi winked appearing at Kireina's side holding out an arm.

Kireina opened her mouth to retort but then decided to let it pass and instead slipped her arm through Kakashi's.

"Come here Naruto! You can be my other 'date'! Sasuke will be Hinata's," Kireina grinned.

Naruto happily obliged grabbing Kireina's offered hand while Sasuke and Hinata shyly joined arms.

Kireina beamed and thought, 'My happy little family.' Then the group of well dressed ninjas left for the Haruno residence once more. When they reached Sakura's house, Naruto bounded up to the doorway and eagerly rang the doorbell. Sakura opened the door to welcome her guest.

"Sakura-chan! We're back!" Naruto cried.

"Hi guys! You all look wonderful! Especially Hinata-chan and Kireina-sensei!" Sakura complimented. (Inner Sakura: -squeal- Sasuke-kun looks SOOO HOT!)

Hinata blushed and stuttered a thank you, her hand unconsciously tightening her hold on Sasuke's arm. Sasuke let a very tiny, unnoticeable smile appear on his face before returning to stoically look at Sakura. Sakura had on a white strapless dress that stopped at her knees with a pink sash around the waist.

Kireina beamed at Sakura, "You look lovely as well, dear."

Sakura stepped aside from the doorway and let the group in. It appeared that they were the last ones to arrive. There were already people sitting in the living room dancing, talking, and laughing. Kireina spotted a small crowd near the center of the living room. Their little group headed over there to see what the attraction was and all were surprised to see Lee break dancing on the floor except all you could see was a black and green blur. He was moving too fast for the human eye to possibly comprehend. Gai stood next to his spastic student cheering him on. When he looked up, his face lit up as he saw Kireina. He dashed over to her side and took the hand Naruto had abandoned when he went to look for his other friends.

"Kireina-san! You are looking lovely today! The springtime of youth is obviously upon you! Let us celebrate and dance!" Gai proclaimed.

Kakashi cleared his throat and blinked at Gai. Gai only just now noticed the pairs' hooked arms.

"Yosh!" Gai exclaimed jumping back and pointing a finger at Kakashi, "My eternal rival has beat me once again! But never mind that! I will defeat you next time!"

Kakashi and Kireina sweatdropped as Gai continued to babble about the springtime of youth. Kakashi edged away from theenthusiastic Taijutsu master, gently leading Kireina away. The two jounin wandered to the table where there were platters and platters of food set out.

"What would you like to drink, my lady?" Kakashi asked merrily.

Kireina laughed, letting the "my lady" comment slide this one time, "Anything will be fine."

"I'll be right back," The silver-haired man said.

Kireina took this time to look around the house. She spotted Naruto and Sasuke engaged in a glaring contest with Hinata standing next to them biting her lip in worry. Kiba and Akamaru were talking to Shino. Neji, Ten Ten, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji and Sakura were sitting in a circle playing some sort of game. Asuma and Kurenai stood next to each other near the stairway observing everyone, their hands brushing each other's occasionally. Kireina smiled at that. After many efforts from Kireina and Kakashi, the jounin sensei of Team 10 finally got up the courage to ask up the jounin sensei of Team 8. Just then, Kakashi returned to her side holding a glass of clear liquid.

Kireina glanced suspiciously at it, "What is that?"

Kakashi winked, "Soda with a little champagne."

Kireina narrowed her eyes, "What's your definition of a little?"

Kakashi merely smiled innocently before taking a sip from his own glass. Kireina hesitantly took a sip from her glass before choking on it.

"Kakashi! This is not a LITTLE! This is a lot!"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Sorry! I must have given you the wrong glass. I think I gave you mine because mine only tastes like soda."

The two adults switched glasses and Kireina sighed contentedly. Later that night, after all the guests had gone home, Kireina, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto stayed behind to help Sakura clean up. Kireina looked up at the banner they had pinned up high on the wall. She looked around to see if there was anyone around her. Sakura and her parents were cleaning up the kitchen and Kakashi and her two boys were outside cleaning up the games and other trash. When she was satisfied no one would see what she was doing, she closed her eyes for a brief second, then levitated herself upwards to the banner so she was floating in the air in front of it. She held out her hands and the senbon that had been used to hang the banner flew out of the wall and into her hands. The banner floated slowly to the ground with the help of Kireina's levitation skills. She heard the guys come back in and quickly dropped to the ground sticking the senbon into her hair where they became hairpins. Naruto burst through the door arguing with Sasuke. Kakashi followed the two boys at a much more leisurely pace. He noticed the banner folded up on the floor.

He raised an eye brow at Kireina who smiled innocently. Kakashi narrowed his eyes and walked over to her.

"How did you get the banner down?" Kakashi asked her.

"I pulled the senbon out," Kireina replied innocently.

"How did you get up there? The ladder is outside and it takes a great deal of chakra to lift an entire person and hold them there long enough to remove the senbon."

Kireina sighed, "It's just something I can do. When I was 8 I discovered I had the ability to levitate things including myself. If I wanted to move something though, I had to use chakra."

Kakashi gaped at her, "Can you move when you levitate yourself?"

Kireina nodded, "It's just like walking except on air."

Kakashi continued to gape at her, "What else are you not telling us?"

Kireina remained quiet at this and finally said, "There's a reason I'm not telling you."

Then she quickly left to the kitchen to see if there was anything else that needed help with. When the group finally left, Kireina and Kakashi remained quiet most of the time answering only when Naruto or Sasuke talked to them. When they reached home, it was almost midnight.

"Kashi-kun, why don't you stay the night?" Kireina suggested, "It's getting late anyway."

Kakashi politely declined saying, "My house is only a little ways away. I wouldn't want to trouble you."

"Nonsense," Kireina's tone turned business-like, "You look tired already and it would be no trouble. The guestroom's already been made up for an emergency like this."

Kakashi scratched the back of his head before grinning sheepishly, "All right, if it's no trouble."

Kireina beamed at him and quickly unlocked the door of their house to let them in. Sasuke and Naruto were sent to shower and Kireina busied herself making tea for Kakashi. She placed the cup of tea in front of him and then quickly went to change into her pajamas. When she came out Sasuke had finished showering and was sitting at the kitchen table talking to Kakashi about training. She settled herself next to Sasuke half-listening to the conversation while her mind wandered back to her and Kakashi's conversation earlier that night. Naruto joined them shortly after and Kireina remembered what time it was.

"All right boys, time for bed," she chided gently.

"Reina-nee-chan! It's only 12:30! We're already 16!" Naruto whined.

Although Sasuke didn't say anything, he secretly agreed with Naruto although he would rather die than admit that. Kireina shook her head.

"Ninjas need plenty of sleep," she scolded.

"But we have no mission tomorrow! We get a holiday! Tsunade-baa-chan said so," Naruto pouted childishly.

Kireina had long since given up on getting Naruto to show Tsunade the respect a Hokage should receive.

"You should always prepare for the unexpected," Kireina reminded him, "What if Cloud decides to attack? You wouldn't want to be caught off guard and tired would you? Then I wouldn't let you take part in the action."

Naruto hesitated before high tailing it out of there and up the stairs. A few seconds later a "Night Reina-nee-chan!" sounded from his room. Sasuke followed at a much slower pace taking time to push his chair back underneath the table and wish the two adults a goodnight.

"Sasuke!" Kireina called.

Sasuke turned around in question. Kireina waved him over and he hesitantly walked over to her. Kireina gave him a hug and then kissed him on the forehead before bidding him goodnight. Sasuke seemed to be in shock but when he came to, a light blush covered his cheeks and he murmured a quiet goodnight before going to his room.

**Kireina POV **

I sighed inwardly. 'My poor baby. He's gone through so much in the past few years. So many people lying to him. I can only hope he'll forgive me for being one of them.'

I was so lost in my thoughts I completely forgot I wasn't alone until I heard someone clear his throat. I snapped out of my thoughts and noticed Kakashi looking at me worriedly.

"You okay Reina-chan? You seemed a little distracted just then." Kakashi said.

I quickly put on a smile, "I'm fine Kashi-kun. I'm just a little tired. Would you mind if I turned in now?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Not at all."

I stood up and gave him a quick hug before leaving the kitchen. Once in the safety of my room I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding in. I went to stand in front of my mirror and pulled down the collar of my pajama top. There it was, glaring at me like it always did. I glanced out the window. The stars twinkled at me as if taunting me.

"Forgive me Sasuke, Naruto, Kakashi. I don't mean to lie to you, but this is something no one can know the full truth about," I murmured quietly to myself.

I quickly released the collar allowing it to cover the small silver star seal that had been placed a few centimeters below my collar bone. I got into bed and willed myself to sleep refusing to allow myself to think about the seal.

**Kakashi POV **

I stayed in the kitchen a little while longer after Reina-chan had left, pondering about our previous conversation. I was curious to see what secret Kireina was hiding from all of us, but in the end decided to sleep instead. I quickly washed my cup then headed to the guestroom next to Kireina's room. I paused at her door wondering once again who the young woman behind the door really was. I shook my head and continued onto the guestroom and after removing my mask and hitai-ate, stuck one of the two pillows over my face and went to sleep.

**Normal POV **

Kakashi woke up in the middle of the night to the feeling of danger. He quickly put his face mask and hitai-ate on before going outside to investigate. He met up with Kireina just as he stepped out of the room and knew she had felt it too. Kireina's eyes were wide open and she walked making no sound. Kakashi followed her just as silently. The two of them crept into the kitchen. Just as they entered, the sound of a window breaking upstairs filled the silent house followed shortly by Naruto's enraged shout. Kireina flew up the stairs, Kakashi close on her heels. The two jounin burst into Naruto's room to find him rubbing his head screaming at a rock. Sasuke stumbled in still rubbing sleep out of his eyes.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked groggily.

Kireina bent over to pick up the rock noticing a note tied to it. After reading it, she pressed her lips together tightly in anger and handed the note to Kakashi. The note was messily written and it was dark but from what Kakashi could make out, he was able to tell it was a hate note directed to Naruto and surprisingly, Sasuke.

"Come on," Kireina muttered, "Whoever threw that rock is probably still around here somewhere."

She and Kakashi hurried out of Naruto's room only to smell smoke. Kireina's eyes widened and she raced to the top of the stairs. The unmistakable glow of fire was rapidly increasing from the kitchen and living room up the stairs.

"Shoot! The rock must've been a distraction!" Kireina cried.

Kakashi was surprised to see the fire move so quickly and then he noticed the faint smell of gas.

'They must have poured gas to make the fire move faster,' Kakashi thought, 'Whoever did this obviously planned for a lot.'

Kireina had whipped into action. She grabbed Kakashi and shoved him towards Naruto's room.

"Kakashi! Take care of my boys for me!" she instructed, then headed down the stairs.

Kakashi quickly caught her arm. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked sharply.

Kireina sighed, "I have to get clothes you and I can change into and maybe save a few things that I can't lose."

Kakashi shook his head, "I'm not letting you go down there! You'll be killed! What do you need? I'll get it."

Kireina shook her head this time, "Don't worry about me Kakashi. Get my boys out of here. NOW!"

She wrenched her arm out of his grasp and before he could react ran down the stairs before the fire could consume them. Kakashi watched in amazement as Kireina held out a hand and seemingly pushed back the fire. She turned around and looked up at him and winked.

"This is my secret," she said, "Now get them out of here!"

Kakashi hesitantly returned to Naruto's room, "Come on guys. Let's go."

Sasuke frantically tugged at Kakashi's arm, "Where's my nee-chan?"

Kakashi shook his head, "She'll be fine. She told me to get you guys out of here."

"Did she go downstairs?" Naruto asked incredulously.

Kakashi sighed and nodded, "But she'll be all right. I saw it for my self. Now LET'S GO!"

He made sure Naruto and Sasuke were holding onto him before he teleported the three of them out of the house onto the front lawn where a crowd had gathered and there were several ninjas using water jutsus to protect the houses around the burning one.

"Is everyone out?" one of them asked.

Kakashi shook his head frantically, "No! Kireina is still in there!"

The ninja frowned, "She needs to get out of there quickly! The house is going to burn down!"

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto gaped at him before Sasuke started to run towards the house. Kakashi quickly grabbed his arm.

"Let me go!" Sasuke cried, struggling against Kakashi's hold, "I have to save my nee-chan!"

"No! It's too dangerous," Kakashi commanded softly.

Sasuke sagged against his sensei's hold and actually started crying. Naruto clung onto Sasuke and Kakashi and cried as well. Kakashi gently put the two boys on the ground then stood up.

He quickly performed a series of seals and yelled, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A large dragon made of water appeared and spit balls of water that swept over the burning house, but only put out some of the flames. Kakashi performed more seals yelling, "Suiton: Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Water spouted out of the ground putting out more flames. Sasuke did some seals as well performing a "Suiton: Mizu-gan no Jutsu" to help put out the fire. However, no matter how many flames they put out, more seemed to take its place. Until finally they were both out of chakra and exhausted. Sasuke watched in horror as the left side of the house collapsed.

"That's not the side she was in was it?" he asked frantically.

Kakashi shook his head sadly, "I don't know where she was going to go."

Sasuke gripped Kakashi's arm tightly and Naruto gripped Kakashi's other arm nearly cutting off his circulation. Kakashi didn't notice though. He was too worried about Kireina still trapped inside.

Naruto screamed when the remaining of the house collapsed and the fire tried to spread. More ninjas had arrived though as well as the Hokage and several citizens were using hoses to put out the fire. When the fire was out, Tsunade hurried to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto who were staring in shock at the burned down house.


	11. Secret Revealed

**_Previously..._**

He made sure Naruto and Sasuke were holding onto him before he teleported the three of them out of the house onto the front lawn where a crowd had gathered and there were several ninjas using water jutsus to protect the houses around the burning one.

"Is everyone out?" one of them asked.

Kakashi shook his head frantically, "No! Kireina is still in there!"

The ninja frowned, "She needs to get out of there quickly! The house is going to burn down!"

Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto gaped at him before Sasuke started to run towards the house. Kakashi quickly grabbed his arm.

"Let me go!" Sasuke cried, struggling against Kakashi's hold, "I have to save my nee-chan!"

"No! It's too dangerous," Kakashi commanded softly.

Sasuke sagged against his sensei's hold and actually started crying. Naruto clung onto Sasuke and Kakashi and cried as well. Kakashi gently put the two boys on the ground then stood up.

He quickly performed a series of seals and yelled, "Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu!"

A large dragon made of water appeared and spit balls of water that swept over the burning house, but only put out some of the flames. Kakashi performed more seals yelling, "Suiton: Tatsumaki no Jutsu!" Water spouted out of the ground putting out more flames. Sasuke did some seals as well performing a "Suiton: Mizu-gan no Jutsu" to help put out the fire. However, no matter how many flames they put out, more seemed to take its place. Until finally they were both out of chakra and exhausted. Sasuke watched in horror as the left side of the house collapsed.

"That's not the side she was in was it?" he asked frantically.

Kakashi shook his head sadly, "I don't know where she was going to go."

Sasuke gripped Kakashi's arm tightly and Naruto gripped Kakashi's other arm nearly cutting off his circulation. Kakashi didn't notice though. He was too worried about Kireina still trapped inside.

Naruto screamed when the remaining of the house collapsed and the fire tried to spread. More ninjas had arrived though as well as the Hokage and several citizens were using hoses to put out the fire. When the fire was out, Tsunade hurried to Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto who were staring in shock at the burned down house.

* * *

Continue..

* * *

"Where's Kireina?" Tsunade asked urgently.

Sasuke turned empty eyes to Tsunade and mumbled, "She was still in the house."

Tsunade reeled back in shock, "But..."

"But she got out in time," a tired voice joined them.

Sasuke's head snapped up and he turned around. Kireina was walking towards them, leaning on Yuki. In Yuki's mouth was a duffel bag.

"Nee-chan!" Sasuke breathed.

He launched himself toward Kireina and hugged her tightly, soon joined by Naruto who was still wailing. When Sasuke and Naruto let go of her, she swayed slightly. Kakashi was by her side in an instant picking her up bridal style. Kireina gratefully leaned her head against Kakashi's chest.

"Your clothes are in the duffel bag," she mumbled.

"My clothes?" Kakashi asked.

"From when you changed for Sakura's party."

Kakashi sighed, "You almost killed yourself just so you could get me my clothes?"

Kireina laughed softly, "No silly. I had to get other things too."

Kakashi frowned, "Why are you so tired? Teleportation doesn't take too much chakra and considering your chakra reserves, it shouldn't even have made a dent.

Kireina yawned and closed her eyes, "Controlling fire is hard work you know."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened in surprise, 'Controlling fire? I thought she had been using some of kind barrier to push back the flames. She was using chakra?'

He looked down at the tiny young woman in his arms and carried her to Tsunade to inspect for injuries. When Tsunade said she was fine, just exhausted, Kakashi nodded and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sasuke! Naruto! Come on. You'll stay at my house for tonight. It'll be crowded but it will do for now," Kakashi called to Kireina's two boys.

The two of them obediently followed him to his house where they settled in for the night. Kireina taking the room and the three guys sprawled out in the living room. Kakashi somehow managed to produce enough blankets and pillows for everyone. It was a good thing it was still fall and winter hadn't hit yet.

_**The next day...**_

Kireina woke to the smell of breakfast. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and looked around her noticing she was in Kakashi's room. She stumbled out of bed and headed to where she remembered his bathroom to be. After knocking, she entered and quickly washed her face. She left the bathroom only to find the duffel bag she had brought last night resting against the door. She smiled and picked it up, rummaging through it to find her, Naruto, and Sasuke's toothbrushes. After she was done with her morning business she wandered into the kitchen to find Kakashi at the stove cooking breakfast.

"Morning Kashi-kun!" she chirped.

Kakashi turned at her voice and replied, "Morning! Why are you up so early?"

Kireina shrugged, "My chakra has always replenished itself fast. Are Sasuke and Naruto still sleeping?"  
Kakashi nodded, "They're passed out in the living room."

Kireina nodded, "Thanks for all your help Kashi-kun. I'm sorry to bother you so much."

"It's no bother," Kakashi said. He turned from the stove with a pan in his hand, "How does burnt pancakes sound for breakfast?"

Kireina beamed, "They're my favorite."

Kakashi's eye curved into what could only be a cheerful smile. He took the pancakes out of the pan and put them on a plate which he set before Kireina. He seated himself next to her with his own plate of equally burnt pancakes.

"So, what's this about controlling fire?" Kakashi asked.

Kireina was eating with her back turned like she had when she lived with him and paused to answer.

"It's another bloodline."

Kakashi blinked, "Another one? I thought you only had four."

Kireina sighed, "I only have four that are actually mine. My other bloodline limits are ones I copied from other ninjas that I've fought."

Kireina turned back towards Kakashi who had already finished eating.

Kakashi furrowed his brow in confusion, "That's impossible. You can't copy bloodlines."

Kireina smiled sadly, "I gained that ability during my stay at Yukigakure (Hidden Village of Snow). I was around 17 years old. The ninjas there were highly skilled but none of them had any bloodline limits. The old lady who became my teacher tried to protect me but in the end, the others still managed to get me."

At this point, Kireina pulled down the collar of her pajama top revealing the small silver star to Kakashi, "My first year there, some ninjas got jealous of my bloodline limits and kidnapped me. They took me to a very, very small village that no one knows about called Hoshigakure (Hidden Village of Star). Hoshigakure specializes in bloodline limits and seals. The ninjas that kidnapped me wanted to use me for their advantage so they asked Hoshigakure to place this seal on me. The seal acts as an enhancer to my original bloodline limits and it acts as a bloodline limit in itself. The seal copies all bloodline limits that are used against me so they become ineffective and I learn how to use them. That's why I'm usually sent on what would be suicide missions, but they aren't for me, because it's nearly impossible for me to die unless I'm outnumbered by over 25 veteran ANBU. However, the worst part about this seal is the fact that it activates on its own and I have no control over it. Once it's activated, I become a mechanical killer and I don't stop until every single person around me is dead. When I returned to Yukigakure, the ninjas there trained me to be an emotionless killing machine. My teacher however had instilled good morals in me before the seal had been placed on me, so I didn't become entirely hopeless. It wasn't until I escaped to Sunagakure that I was able to completely get rid of the training that had been instilled in me at Yukigakure. Gaara and Temari were the ones who helped me most."

Kakashi stared at Kireina in shock before managing to stutter out a "wow". Kireina glanced at Kakashi and noticed his star struck expression.

"Please don't tell anyone," she pleaded, "And please don't act any different around me. I'm still me."

Kakashi snapped out of his daze and to Kireina's surprise he drew her into his arms, "Of course you are. I'm just sorry you had to go through all that."

Kireina relaxed and wrapped her arms around Kakashi's neck. The two of them stayed like that for a short while before Kireina began to get uncomfortable leaning across Kakashi's knees.

"So," Kakashi drawled, "How did you and Temari become best friends? You two are almost 7 years apart!"

Kireina giggled like a schoolgirl, "When Gaara became Kazekage he would often become so stressed out he would become psychotically homicidal again. So every once in awhile I would pull pranks on him to loosen him up a little. When Temari found out it was me who had been helping Gaara keep sane, she immediately wanted to help. So the two of us became friends like that. Whenever she had problems she would always come to me and if Kankuro needed beating up, I would help her. I guess I was more of an older sister to her, demo (but), she always returned the favor. So, the two of us became best friends like that."

"Did you know she and Shikamaru have a long distance fling going on?" Kakashi asked.

Kireina snickered, "Who do you think got her to ask him out?"

Kakashi laughed lightly, "How long do you think that's going to last?"

Kireina smiled peacefully, "I think they're going to get married before I do."

Kakashi looked at her in surprise, "Really? But Shikamaru's only 16."

"17," Kireina corrected, "His birthday just passed a few months ago. Temari told me he's only 10 months younger than her and Temari's eighteenth birthday was just last month."

"So why do you think they're going to get married before you?" Kakashi asked.

Kireina shrugged, "I'm too busy for a boyfriend. I've never had time for one before because of all the stupid missions Gaara liked to send me on."

"Did you ever get mad at Gaara for putting you in positions like that?" Kakashi wondered.

"No," Kireina shook her head, "Gaara knows my limits and although every time I go out on super suicidal missions, he always sends a team of ANBU with me as back up just in case. Occasionally, he himself will follow me. He doesn't know I know though. So I let him think that I think he wants to kill me even though I know he tries his hardest to take care of me."

Kakashi smiled, "Someone should."

Kireina glanced at him, "What do you mean? I can take care of myself perfectly fine."

"I think you do a great job caring for yourself and Sasuke and Naruto, demo (but), everyone needs a little pampering and caring every now and then."

"So I guess you're the one to do it?" Kireina huffed.

Kakashi's curved into its cheerful grin again, "That's right!"

Before Kireina could come up with a retort, a sleepy eyed Sasuke wandered into the kitchen. He made a beeline for Kireina who kissed him on the forehead.

"Good morning Suke-chan," Kireina teased, "How's my otouto (little brother) today? Have you brushed your teeth and washed your face?"

Sasuke scowled a little at the nickname, "Reina-nee-chan, I'm sixteen-years-old. I don't think I'm a "chan" anymore and yes I did."

Kireina wrapped an arm around Sasuke's waist, "You'll always be Suke-chan to me! The older you get, the older I get. So the age difference between us will always be the same, therefore, you will always be my Suke-chan."

Sasuke couldn't argue with that kind of logic so he just scowled a little more and then settled in the seat across the kitchen table. Kireina pushed a plate of pancakes at him.

"Kashi-kun burnt some pancakes for our breakfast."

Sasuke picked up the fork, "Domo arigatou gozaimasu(Thank you very much) Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi merely nodded before turning back to Kireina and starting a conversation about Team 7's training. Before long, Naruto joined them in the kitchen looking like he was still asleep.

"Morning sleepy head," Kireina greeted, "Use your brother's plate and fork. Pancakes are on the stove."

Naruto did as Kireina directed and seated himself next to Sasuke.

"How come his pancakes aren't as burnt?" Sasuke asked mildly.

Kireina laughed, "Because those were the ones Kashi-kun was cooking when I came in and stopped him from doing any further damage.

Kakashi made a face at this comment, "They weren't done yet! The middle was still liquidy!"

Kireina raised an eyebrow at this, "Liquidy? I don't think that's a word."

"Mou, it's a word now! Naruto's done with his breakfast. It's time for us to go see our beautiful, pseudo-young Hokage!"

Kireina rolled her eyes before clearing the table. She started to wash the dishes before Kakashi stopped her.

"You guys are my guests. I'll do them when we get back. Besides, Hokage-sama's waiting for us."

Kireina reluctantly left the dishes in the sink before going to her room and changing. She came out wearing her usual black skirt but instead of her usual top, she wore a shirt that was a blue version of Ten Ten's shirt.

"What happened to your shirt Reina-nee-chan?" Naruto asked.

Kireina sighed, "I couldn't get my shirts off the hangers fast enough so I just grabbed some from my drawers."

The five of them left Kakashi's house and headed towards the Hokage tower. When they got to the Hokage's office, Sakura was waiting for them outside the door.

"Ohayo Kakashi-sensei, Kireina-sensei! Ohayo Sasuke-kun, Naruto!" Sakura greeted cheerfully.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan," Kireina replied for all of them.

She knocked on the door of Tsunade's office and was welcomed with a simple "haite (come in)". Team 7 walked in to see Tsunade with her head buried in a bunch of paperwork. She looked up and greeted the group with a tired smile.

"I'm sorry Kireina, we're looking for another residency for you right now, but for now, if Kakashi doesn't mind, his place will be your temporary residence until we find a more permanent place," Tsunade apologized.

Kireina waved Tsunade's apology aside, "It's fine Tsunade-sama. But I was wondering, I don't want to put Kakashi out anymore than he already has been, so are there any long term missions that Team 7 can take at the moment?"

Tsunade looked through a stack of files, "Actually there is a mission. It's considered S-rank, but it's really a D-rank. I'm sure your team will have no trouble with it."

Kireina raised an eyebrow.

Tsunade explained, "For a long time, there has been a standing mission for the retrieval of Uchiha Itachi in case of emergencies. The village advisors labeled it as an S-class, but they know it's actually a D-class. We keep it labeled S-class for the sake of helping Itachi keep up his facade. If you guys want, you can go look for him. We recently had a reconnaissance mission to Cloud and we received information of their battle plans. It doesn't look good, so we figured now would be as good a time as any for Akatsuki to become helpful."

Kireina nodded, "All right. We'll take it. Itachi-san would probably like a chance to see his little brother again."

Kakashi took the mission file form Tsunade and briefly glanced at it before handing it back to her.

"We'll leave right away," Kakashi informed Tsunade.

Tsunade nodded, "Thanks you guys. Please tell Itachi that we really need his help. Sakura, why don't you stay behind? I want to further your training before war actually hits us."

Kireina nodded, "Okay guys! Let's go. We have to go buy new clothes."

Kireina and Kakashi herded Team 7 out the door and they spent the next two hours buying clothes to replace the ones Kireina and her boys had lost in the fire. After dropping off their stuff at Kakashi's house and packing the bare essentials, Team 7 minus Sakura headed toward Konoha's East Gate. Sakura met them there and gave Kireina the medical kit she had received for her birthday from Sasuke and Naruto.

"I've already filled it with everything you'll need. I figured this would come in handy when dealing with 'S-class' criminals," Sakura informed Kireina.

Kireina smiled, "Thanks Sakura-chan. When we come back, I hope you'll be a magnificent medic nin!"

Sakura gave Kireina a hug, "I promise."

Kireina turned towards the guys, "All right then. Time to head out!"

Sakura watched them leave Konoha and disappear into the forest before turning back to the Hokage's office.


	12. Enter the Kurotsuki

WAH! Sorry >) So I finally decided to update again :P School's out! Whoo hoo! Expect more updates >P

* * *

**Previously...**

Kireina and Kakashi herded Team 7 out the door and they spent the next two hours buying clothes to replace the ones Kireina and her boys had lost in the fire. After dropping off their stuff at Kakashi's house and packing the bare essentials, Team 7 minus Sakura headed toward Konoha's East Gate. Sakura met them there and gave Kireina the medical kit she had received for her birthday from Sasuke and Naruto.

"I've already filled it with everything you'll need. I figured this would come in handy when dealing with 'S-class' criminals," Sakura informed Kireina.

Kireina smiled, "Thanks Sakura-chan. When we come back, I hope you'll be a magnificent medic nin!"

Sakura gave Kireina a hug, "I promise."

Kireina turned towards the guys, "All right then. Time to head out!"

Sakura watched them leave Konoha and disappear into the forest before turning back to the Hokage's office.

* * *

Continued...

* * *

"Do you know where Akatsuki is?" Kakashi asked Kireina as they jumped from tree to tree. 

Kireina nodded, "Yes, but one of my summonings told me that there's a new organization of real S-class criminals. They too think Akatsuki is a criminal organization so they have declared them their enemy. They named their organization 'Kurotsuki'. It's supposed to be a play off of Akatsuki's name."

"Black Moon? What is it about moons that attract criminals to them so much?" Kakashi mused.

Kireina shrugged, "No idea."

Just then, a silver hawk with bright blue eyes swept in front of Team 7. The team halted their running.

"What is it Mizuno?" Kireina asked the hawk.

The hawk, which was apparently a girl, replied in a startlingly musical voice, "Three Kurotsuki members ahead."

Kireina nodded, "Thanks Mizu."

Kakashi glanced at Kireina, puzzled, "Why is your hawk's name 'of the water?"

Kireina winked, "You'll see."

Mizuno led the team quietly through the forest foliage. Kireina silently activated her Byakugan and peered through the tree trunk.

"Okay guys. Naruto, you stay with me. Sasuke go with Kakashi around to the other side. When I send Mizuno into the clearing, she'll give the signal and that's when we attack," Kireina instructed.

Kakashi and Sasuke stole quietly around the unsuspecting Kurotsuki members and with her Byakugan, Kireina could see them taking positions in trees. Kireina softly nudged Mizuno who flew into the clearing and landed on one of the members' shoulder. Kireina heard the man talk to the bird.

"Hey! Where'd you come from?"

Mizuno opened her mouth as if to reply but instead of words, a stream of water spat out of her mouth and hit the man full force in the face.

"What the-! It's a summoning!" One of the other members yelled.

The three men in the clearing scrambled for their weapons but were slightly too late when Sasuke's "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu" hit them. Naruto performed his favorite seal and produced four Kage Bunshins (Shadow Replications). Kireina and Kakashi hung back waiting to jump in when needed. As they expected, the Kurotsuki easily dispatched the four Bunshins. One had a slight burn on his arm from Sasuke's previous jutsu. Sasuke pulled out his favorite weapon, the Fuuma Shuriken (Giant Ninja Star) and leapt into the clearing and began fighting with him. Although Sasuke was skilled, the man he was fighting was an S-class criminal, so he would obviously put up a good fight. Naruto was fighting another one and the last one, obviously the leader, stayed back to observe his subordinates. Naruto swept his leg under the man who easily dodged it but was caught by surprise when Naruto's other leg swung out and tripped him. Naruto flipped on his hands several times and each time one of his swinging legs would hit his opponent. Sasuke held his Fuuma Shuriken in front of him to parry the scythe his opponent had pulled out. When he suddenly pulled away, Sasuke immediately crouched into a defensive position. His opponent grinned before beginning to perform a string of seals quickly. Kireina quickly recognized the jutsu the man was about to perform and quickly did some hand seals in the shadows of the trees. She knew Sasuke wouldn't be able to dodge it so she had to protect him somehow. Just as the man unleashed his "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu", Kireina finished her seals and quickly sent her Earth Dragon to push the Giant Waterfall back. The man jumped back in surprise.

"What! You didn't do any seals! How could you do that?" he screamed in outrage.

Kireina decided that now would be a good time to reveal herself. She dropped out of the tree she was in and crouched in front of Sasuke.

"No one messes with my little brother and gets away with it," Kireina said in a deadly cold voice.

The man sneered, "Little missy, do you know who you're dealing with? The Kurotsuki are not people that will be easily beaten. Give up while you can."

Kireina barked slightly, "No, I know perfectly well who I'm dealing with. The question is, do you know who you're dealing with?"

Before he could reply, Kireina spun around and yelled, "Hakke Rokujuu Yonshou!" When she was done closing his tenketsu, she infused her hand with silver chakra and thrust her palm at his chest. The man flew back and hit the tree, dead. Kakashi had gone to help Naruto and that left the leader.

He shook his head, "He was a new recruit. Don't expect me to go easy on you, lady."

Kireina smiled slightly before slipping into the Hyuuga family fighting style, 'Wouldn't dream of it."

"So you're a Hyuuga, eh?" the leader walked amiably toward Kireina.

Kireina shrugged. The leader stared at her before bowing, "My name is Seina. The Kurotsuki call me Ryuudan though. It's a pleasure to finally be able to battle with someone worthy of my attention."

Kireina snarled, "Cut the small talk."

She whipped out the chopsticks in her hair and threw it to her right. The Seina in front of her disappeared with the poof and another one stepped out of the foliage with a look of mild surprise. He was merrily spinning the kunai she had thrown on his forefinger.

"Hmm, you saw through my Kage Bunshin," the man commented mildly.

Kireina straightened, "You really don't know who I am do you?"

Seina shrugged noncommitedly, "No, not really. I've been a criminal since I was 12. I'm 25 now. I don't know much about what's going on in the rest of the world."

"What level were you when you became a criminal?" Kireina questioned.

Seina grinned maniacally, "I was already a chuunin. I'm that good. Are you starting to rethink you're decision about fighting me? I won't go easy on you."

This time Kireina shrugged, "That doesn't matter to me," she straightened up and a gleam entered her eyes, "I had already been ANBU captain of Sunagakure for a year when I turned 12. I would go easy on you, but your subordinate tried to kill my little brother. That in itself, is something I cannot let go unpunished."

If Seina was surprised at this declaration, he made no show of it. Instead he merely slipped into a fighting stance and stated, "Then don't."

Kireina stayed where she was. 13 years as an ANBU captain had taught her to wait for the opponent to attack if you had never fought him before. Seina sped towards her and threw a fist experimentally that she easily dodged, but she didn't expect to be swept to the ground with a swipe of his left leg. As fast as she fell, Kireina jumped up again. She easily flipped out of his fighting range. When Seina ran at her again, she held her hands up, palms facing him. A few feet before he reached Kireina, he bounced off an invisible barrier. Kireina easily took advantage of this and punched his arms and legs with chakra infused palms. Seina shuddered slightly on the ground. When he tried to move his arm, nothing happened.

"What did you do to me," Seina gasped.

"I'm a medic nin as well. I know the nervous system very well. All I did was send chakra to cut off your nerve signals temporarily," Kireina replied.

"How did you stop me?"

Kireina shrugged then methodically began closing his tenketsus, then doing the same thing she did to Neji, she delivered a well-placed Gentle Fist attack to his chest. Seina flew backwards about 30 feet, stopping when he hit a tree. He coughed weakly and blood splattered out of his mouth onto the ground. Kireina took a kunai from her hair and began twirling it with ease. Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke watched her to see what she would do. Kireina all of a sudden stopped spinning her kunai and stuck it back in her hair. Instead she concentrated chakra to her right index finger.

"Chakra Enjintou (Chakra Scalpel)!" A thin sharp blade of silver chakra grew out of Kireina's finger. She calmly walked over to Seina.

"Your subordinate's attack would have wounded my little brother greatly and I have no doubt that after Sasuke fell, your friend would let him die slowly. So I'm debating whether or not I should let you die slowly or kill you quickly."

Seina gulped visibly. Kakashi tensed and covered Naruto and Sasuke's eyes. They may be 16, but there were some things that didn't need to be seen if it could be avoided.

Kireina sighed, "I never was good at torture. I'll make this quick."

True to her word, Kireina sliced the man's neck easily with her silver blade. No blood appeared, but Seina made a gurgling noise before slumping over. Kakashi removed his hands and Sasuke and Naruto blinked in surprise to see their enemy dead but with no blood.

"What was the silver blade Nee-chan had?" Sasuke asked.

"A Chakra blade. It doesn't cut the skin, instead it goes through it and cuts the muscles, tissues, and arteries beneath the area cut. Your sister cut his jugular vein so he died instantly," Kakashi answered grimly.

Kireina held a hand out and Seina was lifted up by an invisible force. She set him next to his comrades and performed the proper seals for "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" and set the pile of bodies on fire. When the fire died out, Kireina turned towards the guys still watching her.

"I'm sorry you had to watch that," she apologized.

Kakashi nodded then turned, "Come on. We've lost time having to deal with them. The sooner we get to Akatsuki, the better. I have a feeling we'll be getting visits from higher level shinobi sent by Kurotsuki."

Kireina nodded.

Barely even 10 minutes after the group had started off again, Kireina and Kakashi both felt the approaching danger. Kireina closed her eyes and began counting under her breath.

Her eyes shot open after a few seconds, "There are eight of them closing in all around us."

Kakashi nodded. He began performing seals before Kireina stopped him.

"Matte (Wait). Let them come and think we haven't sensed them. They'll underestimate us and it will be easier to eliminate them."

Kakashi hesitantly put his hands down before nodding and starting to walk again. However the four of them remained on guard to parry the attacks that were sure to come. Without any warning, one kunai shot towards Kakashi who easily caught it and threw it straight back in the direction it had come from. There was a groan and then a short pause before several more kunai flew towards the group. Kireina knew it would be impossible to block or dodge all of them. Her hands flew through seals before she stretched her right arm out to the side and with a sweeping motion, moved her left arm in an arc above her head from right to left.

"Kaze no Enchou (Dome of Wind)!" A dome of wind built up around them in the directions Kireina had pointed out and immediately disabled any attacks.

Following the kunai were the owners of the kunai. Kireina twisted her right arm in front of her and the wind from the dome of protection blew around her arm. With a wave of her arm, the wind that had been collected was blasted out blowing the attacking ninjas away. The other three stared at her.

"What was that?" Sasuke finally asked.

Kireina smiled sheepishly, "A jutsu I developed. I only wanted to hold them off for a bit longer. They'll be back soon. For now though, let's continue walking."

The little group set off again, but once again after not even 30 minutes, the ninjas that had tried to attack before were back again. This time they were more cautious. Kireina and Kakashi slipped into fighting stances while keeping Sasuke and Naruto covered. At first the attackers only threw shuriken and kunai, but after seeing how easily the two jounin deflected the attacks, they stopped and just attacked all at once.

Kakashi grunted slightly as he caught the fist of one attacker with one hand and ducked his other punch. Lashing out with his leg, he flipped him on his back and with a quick swipe at the throat with a kunai, the attacker was dead. Sasuke and Naruto were both holding their own pretty well. The Kurotsuki had sent higher level ninjas this time around, but Sasuke and Naruto were both very near the jounin level anyway. Kireina was fighting one kunoichi with her right hand while her left hand quickly made seals. The Goukakyuu she performed got rid of 2 shinobi in front of her. 3 down, 5 to go. Sasuke stabbed the man he was fighting only to have the man disappear in a cloud of smoke. The man snuck up behind him and grabbed Sasuke putting a kunai to his throat.

"All right! Nobody moves," he ordered.

Sasuke struggled but the man only tightened his grip and pressed the kunai to his neck drawing a thin line of blood. Kakashi and Kireina hesitantly put down the kunai they were holding while Naruto popped his clones.

Kireina held her hands out, "Please. Give him back." Her tone had a sort of pleading quality to it.

The man seemed to think about this for a second before answering, "No! I think I'll take him back to Kurotsuki. We could use a recruit as skilled as him."

Kireina shook her head, "You can't. No. Please. I'll give you anything."

The man debated this in his head quickly, "Anything?"

Kakashi protested but Kireina shot him a sharp glance before turning back to the man. "Yes. Anything."

"Trade with him," the man sneered sinisterly.

Kireina knew this was coming and readily agreed. At least this way, she knew she could escape. Sasuke however, would be unable to. She edged towards her little brother and his captor making sure to show she had no weapons. Which was a lie, but the man didn't need to know that. Once Kireina was in his grasp, the Kurotsuki man pushed Sasuke to Kakashi who quickly grabbed Sasuke before he could try to go back to save Kireina. When Kireina saw Sasuke was out of harm's way, her eyes glinted. She held her right hand out and silver flames danced in her palm teasingly.

"What are you doing?" the man demanded.

Kireina smirked slightly, "Killing you."

With a swift backwards thrust, Kireina shoved the ball of fire into the man's leg. She easily broke free and pulled a kunai out of her hair, stabbing it into his heart. As soon as Kireina had freed herself, Kakashi had pulled out four kunai and whipped them out in various directions. Not expecting an attack, the Kurotsuki were unprepared and all the kunai struck true. When the last man sunk to the floor, Sasuke ran towards Kireina. She grabbed him up into a fierce hug.

"Namino-san, you had no need to sacrifice yourself you know," a voice said, "I could have easily taken him out."

Kireina released Sasuke, "Of course Itachi and please, just call me Kireina. We do share a little brother."

Itachi stepped out of the shadows a kunai twirling idly in his hand. Sasuke and Naruto started at the sight of him still not used to the fact that Itachi wasn't the bad guy anymore. Kakashi merely pulled out a book to start reading only to have it fly from his grasp into Kireina's who threw it away. Kakashi pouted slightly.

"That doesn't work when your face is 75 covered," Kireina scowled.

Kakashi's eye curved slightly before he turned to Itachi. "We've been looking for Akatsuki."

Itachi nodded, "Our base is very near. We heard the fighting and I recognized the chakra so I came to see."

"Itachi, Leaf's going to war against Cloud. We need your help. Tsunade-sama asked us to come get Akatsuki," Kireina explained, "We left this morning. Tsunade-sama predicts the Cloud will attack by tomorrow if they haven't already."

Itachi nodded, "All right. I'll tell the group to start heading out, but traveling in a large group will be too noticeable. Allow me to split them up into smaller groups. It will only take a minute."

Kireina nodded. Itachi turned and disappeared back through the trees. A second later he was back with Kisame by his side. The blue skinned shark man grinned at Team 7 and greeted them before introducing himself. The enlarged group set off quickly. They ran into a few Kurotsuki along the way but with a few swings of the Samehada, they were able to continue. Kireina summoned Kyuune, Daisuke, and Yuki. While Itachi and Kisame guarded them, Kireina quickly healed her teammates.

"Did you get hit anywhere?" she asked Kakashi.

Kakashi gestured at a wound at his stomach. Kireina winced, "Can you take your vest off?"

Kakashi complied and Kireina gently lifted his shirt up until his wound was revealed. Silver chakra surrounded her hand and she pressed her hand against the wound blushing slightly at the contact. Kakashi watched her face and worked hard to keep his face straight. Kireina dropped his shirt.

"There! All better," she beamed, "Anymore?"

Kakashi shook his head, "Reina, I've been meaning to ask you. How come your chakra's silver?"

Kireina glanced at Sasuke and Naruto who were sitting on Daisuke and Yuki to check if they were listening.

She patted Kyuune's fur briefly before answering, "It's because of my seal and some other things. That's why all of my summonings are silver. I used to have black hair but when I received the seal, the streaks appeared."

Kakashi nodded before hopping off of Kyuune and joining Kisame to ask him something. A few seconds later, Itachi dropped onto Kyuune in front of Kireina.

"Itachi, you scared me!" Kireina started.

Itachi inclined his head slightly, "Gomen (Sorry) Kireina-san. I have something to ask of you."

Kireina nodded, "Sure, ask away."

"What is your relationship with Hatake Kakashi?"

Kireina blinked in surprise, "We're just friends."

Itachi looked thoughtful, "Maybe you should consider being more."

Kireina groaned, "Not you too."

Itachi looked at her in surprise, "Well, if I'm not the only one, then maybe it is something worth considering."

Kireina sighed, "Okay, okay. I'll think about it."

Itachi nodded and right before he leapt off the fox's back, Kireina grabbed his arm, "How old are you Itachi?"

"I will be turning 21."

Kireina nodded, "I'd like it if I could be your older sister as well."

For once, a look of surprise entered his face before he allowed himself to smile slightly, "I think I'd like that too."

Kireina released his arm and smiled. The peace was shattered though when Mizuno appeared, out of breath.

"What is it Mizu?" Kireina asked worriedly.

"Cloud just attacked!"


	13. Cloud Attack

Two chapters in one day :P Aren't I cool:D

* * *

**Previously...**

Itachi nodded and right before he leapt off the fox's back, Kireina grabbed his arm, "How old are you Itachi?"

"I will be turning 21."

Kireina nodded, "I'd like it if I could be your older sister as well."

For once, a look of surprise entered his face before he allowed himself to smile slightly, "I think I'd like that too."

Kireina released his arm and smiled. The peace was shattered though when Mizuno appeared, out of breath.

"What is it Mizu?" Kireina asked worriedly.

"Cloud just attacked!"

* * *

Continued...

* * *

Kireina wasted no time performing more seals. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Itachi jumped from Kyuune's back onto Daisuke's so he was riding with Sasuke. Kakashi easily settled in behind Kireina. The white tiger with silver stripes that Kireina had summoned became Kisame's ride. His name was Himitsu (Secret). 

"Mizu! Fly ahead and help them out as much as you can. We'll be there shortly,' Kireina instructed.

With everyone on a summoning of some sort, the pace picked up and it wasn't long before the group spied the battle. The chuunin at the gates were doing pretty well holding off the attacking shinobi but it was obvious if they didn't receive help soon, Konoha would be invaded.

"Kyuune! I need you to take your normal form," Kireina said.

The fox nodded her head. Kireina held on tightly and made sure Kakashi had a good grip too. Kyuune began to grow bigger and bigger until she was just a little smaller than Kyuubi.

"Himitsu, Yuki, you guys go into Konoha and help evacuate the children. Himitsu, drop Kisame off first, he can help defend the gates. Yuki, take Naruto to Iruka and help them hide the civilians. As soon as you're sure they're safe, bring Naruto back to the gates and he'll defend. Daisuke, you'll have to go to your normal size too. Follow me and Kyuune. We'll attack from the back," Kireina gave her orders and the group split up. Daisuke had grown to around the same size as Kyuune, possibly a little larger.

Kyuune and Daisuke sprinted forward and leapt into the attacking shinobi. The defending chuunin breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed Kireina and Kakashi. Kyuune grabbed several men with her tails and dropped them which was a very efficient way of killing nine men at once. Daisuke made short work of several ninjas by just stepping on them. Itachi jumped off of Daisuke's back and began fighting. Kireina and Kakashi stayed on Kyuune using the jutsus they had accumulated over time. By the time Konoha backup got there, more than half of the Cloud shinobi had already been taken care of. When Akatsuki arrived, the Cloud decided it wasn't worth the trouble and retreated. Kyuune and Daisuke shrunk back to the size they had been before. Kireina lightly jumped off of Kyuune's back followed by Kakashi and Sasuke.

"Bring all the injured here. Kyuune and Daisuke will get them to the hospital faster. If there are any critical injuries, bring them immediately to me," Kireina told Kakashi and Sasuke.

The two guys nodded before running off. Kireina hurried through familiar seals before biting her thumb and swiping the blood on her wrist. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Puffs of smoke appeared and when it cleared, in front of Kireina stood two large horses. The female was silver with gold streaks in her mane and tail and golden eyes and the male was as black as night with silver streaks and silver eyes.

"Yume (Dream), Akumu (Nightmare), I need your help carrying the wounded to Konoha hospital," Kireina explained, "You guys will be able to get them their faster than any of us can."

Yume and Akumu merely nodded. Sasuke showed up with Neji. Both were helping injured shinobi walk to Kireina. Kireina examined the men's legs before motioning for Sasuke to put his man on Akumu.

"You broke your leg. I'm going to set the bone first so it'll be less painful then the doctors can look at it more in depth." Kireina's hands flew through seals and her hands started glowing with silver chakra. "Seikotsu no Jutsu!" Sasuke heard a pop and winced when the shinobi flinched in pain. Kireina told Neji to help the other man onto Yume.

Kakashi appeared with a puff of smoke. He carried two shinobi under his arms. Kireina placed one on Akumu and the other on Yume before sending the horses off with the four wounded men instructing them to be careful. This went on for awhile, but gradually the wounded were all carried into Konoha by the horses, lions, and fox. Daisuke brought the last of them in. Kireina leaned against a tree wearily pushing her hair out of her eyes. Kakashi dropped to the floor next to her and Sasuke sat next to him. Itachi and Kisame soon appeared before them as well.

"Are any of you hurt?" Kireina asked.

"Small cuts," Itachi replied, "I already took care of them."

Kireina nodded, "Did anyone see if Naruto ever got back?"

Sasuke shook his head, "I think the Cloud retreated before all of the civilians were evacuated."

"So none of the Cloud got in?"

Sasuke shook his head again, "Kisame made sure of that. Good thing Cloud didn't summon any giant animals like Orochimaru did when he attacked."

Kireina nodded, "All right. Let's go back then. Sasuke, I think I'll teach you teleportation now."

Sasuke sat up straight, "Really?"

Kireina smiled and showed him the seals, "Just think about the place you want to go to and if it's within your radius, you'll be transported there."

Sasuke nodded. Kireina put a hand on his shoulder just in case he ended up somewhere different from where he wanted to be. The two of them disappeared. Kakashi, Itachi, and Kisame disappeared soon after. Sasuke and Kireina appeared just inside Konoha's gates where the other three met up with them.

"Itachi, Kisame, if you'll come with me to see the Hokage, we'll see about getting the Akatsuki some temporary living quarters," Kireina said.

Itachi bowed slightly, "Actually, if we could just stay outside of Konoha's gates, we'll be fine. I don't want too many people to know about Akatsuki yet."

"All right, but you'll still have to meet Tsunade-sama."

Itachi nodded. The group began walking to the hospital and along the way, they met up with Naruto.

* * *

"Hokage-sama! Uchiha Itachi is outside demanding to speak to you!" 

Tsunade looked up slightly annoyed, "Who's with him?"

"Hatake-san, Namino-san, Uchiha Sasuke, some blue guy, and Uzumaki Naruto are with him."

"Send them up."

"But Hokage-sama—"

"I said SEND THEM UP!"

The doctor flinched before scampering away. A second later, Team 7 along with Itachi and Kisame filed into the room. The patient Tsunade had been healing gasped.

Kireina darted forward and pressed a tenketsu immediately sending the man into a deep sleep.

"Thanks Kireina. I can't take my hands off," Tsunade said.

Kireina smiled, "Tsunade-sama, the Akatsuki request permission to reside outside of Konoha's gates. I brought Itachi and Kisame in."

Tsunade peered behind her and smirked, "It's about time you came back Itachi."

Itachi bowed, "Konnichiwa Hokage-sama."

Tsunade finished healing her patient and stepped forward and gave Itachi a quick hug, "You've gotten taller and skinnier and darker. Have you been eating?"

Itachi nodded. Sasuke stared at his brother, dumbstruck. Kireina tugged on Sasuke's shirt.

"Come on Sasuke, I have something I want to talk to you about."

Team 7 left Itachi and Kisame with Tsunade to talk about Akatsuki.

"Sasuke, instead of having all three of us crowd out Kakashi at his house, would you mind if we lived at the Uchiha compound until I can find another place for us?" Kireina asked.

Sasuke tensed at the mention of his old house, but relaxed when he remembered his brother hadn't been to blame for the deaths of his clan. He nodded.

Kireina beamed, "Thank you Suke-chan!"

Sasuke scowled at the nickname but let Kireina hug him anyway.

"All right. Let's go around the hospital and see if any of the nurses or doctors needs any help, ne?"

The four of them set off to see if there was anything they could help with.

* * *

"Sakura-chan! Hinata-chan! Is there anything we can help with?" Kireina called. 

The two chuunin looked up from their patients in the waiting room and a look of relief settled on their face.

"Kireina-sensei! Thank goodness you're here! All of the chuunin that were on guard duty are badly injured. There are some that are even about to die," Sakura explained.

Kireina's brow furrowed, "Let me see the charts."

Hinata handed Kireina a stack of papers. Kireina looked through them before pulling three out.

"Okay. Sasuke, Naruto, you guys go with Hinata and Sakura. Help them out as much as you can. Getting bandages, holding people down, whatever you can do. Sakura, Hinata, you girls take care of the minor wounds okay. If a patient ends up having a wound much more serious than you thought it was, send Mizuno," Kireina instructed.

Kireina summoned Mizuno and informed her of her job. Mizuno nodded and settled on Sasuke's shoulder.

"Kashi-kun, can you come with me to look at the more seriously injured shinobi? I think I might need your chakra," Kireina smiled sheepishly, "I summoned too much and I don't know how much I have left."

Kakashi nodded and the group split up.

* * *

Kireina started to sweat as she poured more and more of her chakra into healing the man lying before her. He had been the chuunin who had first alerted the rest of the chuunin on duty of the attacking shinobi and had received the full brunt of the attacks. He had 2 deep gashes in his stomach, his left leg had snapped and his right forearm was shattered. She could feel her chakra starting to deplete but she stubbornly ignored the warning signs, intent on healing the man. She felt Kakashi place a hand on her shoulder to stop her but she shrugged him off. Gradually, the wounds began closing and Kireina collapsed onto the ground exhausted. Kakashi knelt next to her alarmed. 

"Kireina? Are you okay?" Kakashi gathered Kireina into his arms gently.

Kireina cracked an eye open and smiled faintly, "How's the man?"

"He's fine."

Kireina nodded and then passed out. Kakashi quickly picked her up and ran out of the room. He ran into Shizune on his way out.

"Shizune-san! She used too much chakra," Kakashi explained.

Shizune nodded, "Take her to the doctor's lounge. Do you know how to transfer chakra?"

Kakashi nodded.

"Good. In order for her to gain her chakra back quicker, you'll have to transfer a little of your chakra into her. Just a little bit though, not too much. If you try to put too much in her, not only will it harm her, but you'll be in trouble too."

Kakashi nodded again and then teleported away in a puff of smoke.

* * *

Kakashi gently laid Kireina on the couch in the lounge. He grabbed a chair and settled himself next to her. He took her hand and gently pushed some of his own chakra into her. He was startled when his hand started glowing silver like Kireina's did when she used chakra. Kakashi furrowed his brow and wondered why his chakra was suddenly silver. A thought struck him and he dropped Kireina's hand quickly. 

"What if I'm taking her chakra instead of giving her chakra?" he muttered to himself, "That's impossible. I've transferred chakra tons of times."

Kakashi forced his chakra into his right arm as if he was doing Chidori but instead of the explosive noise of birds chirping, he contained the amount of chakra that was let out. He stared at his hand. His chakra was still silver. Kakashi scratched his head and shrugged. It didn't matter to him whether his chakra was silver or blue, as long as he had it, he was fine with anything. He went back to transferring chakra into Kireina. Just as he finished, Sasuke and Naruto burst into the room.

"What happened?" Sasuke demanded taking his older sister's hands in his own.

"Chakra exhaustion," Kakashi answered, "I've already transferred some of my own chakra so she'll be fine in an hour or so. Where are Sakura and Hinata?"

"Tsunade-baa-chan needed them for something," Naruto responded.

Kakashi nodded, "Let's take her back to the Uchiha compound. Sasuke, lead the way."

Sasuke allowed Kakashi to pick Kireina up before leading them out of the hospital and through the streets of Konoha to his large house. After Kakashi placed Kireina in a bedroom, he joined Sasuke in the living room. Sasuke handed Kakashi a cup of tea which he accepted gratefully. The two of them sat in silence for a while before Kakashi noticed the absence of Naruto.

"Where's Naruto?" Kakashi questioned.

"He went to take a nap. Some man at the hospital tried to attack him while Naruto was holding him down," Sasuke explained, "Apparently he had escaped from the mental institute."

Kakashi nodded and it was silent again.

A few minutes later, Sasuke spoke up suddenly, "Do you like my sister?"

Kakashi promptly burned his tongue on the tea and sputtered, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because you flirt with her all the time and you worry about her."

"I worry about all my friends."

"I think you like her," Sasuke declared.

Kakashi half-turned towards Sasuke, "I think your sister is a wonderful woman and an excellent choice for a future spouse, but at this point, she and I are strictly friends. Neither of us have the time for a relationship. Especially not during war. We can't afford to have emotional problems."

Sasuke remained silent and after awhile said, "I still think you like her."

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "You're starting to sound insistent like Naruto."

Sasuke shrugged, "Living with the dobe does that to you."

"Sasuke, what did I say about calling people names?" came a sharp reprimand.

Sasuke and Kakashi spun around on the couch to see Kireina leaning against the wall looking exhausted. Kakashi hurried over and helped her over to the couches.

"How long have you been standing there?" Kakashi gaped.

"Long enough to hear you say Sasuke was starting to sound like Naruto," was the reply, "What was Sasuke being insistent about anyway?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but Kakashi hurriedly clapped a hand over his ex-student's mouth. Sasuke looked offended and glared at Kakashi who sent him a large, cheesy grin. Kireina watched this exchange with interest.

"I'm curious now, but I'm not sure I want to know."

Sasuke pried Kakashi's hand off his mouth, "Nee-chan, do you want some tea?"

"That would be wonderful sweetie, thanks," Kireina said gratefully.

Sasuke nodded and left to the kitchen.

"When are you going to start calling me sweetie?" Kakashi teased.

Kireina lightly smacked his arm, "Thank you for giving me your chakra by the way."

Kakashi shrugged, "I couldn't just let you lie there. Although there is something I wondered about."

* * *

I might upload one more chapter :P I'm behind on this story T.T Sorry >P 


	14. The Elementals plus some corny fluff

Okay...this will be my last upload for today :P It's a long chapter though :)

**

* * *

**

**Previously...**

Sasuke opened his mouth to answer but Kakashi hurriedly clapped a hand over his ex-student's mouth. Sasuke looked offended and glared at Kakashi who sent him a large, cheesy grin. Kireina watched this exchange with interest.

"I'm curious now, but I'm not sure I want to know."

Sasuke pried Kakashi's hand off his mouth, "Nee-chan, do you want some tea?"

"That would be wonderful sweetie, thanks," Kireina said gratefully.

Sasuke nodded and left to the kitchen.

"When are you going to start calling me sweetie?" Kakashi teased.

Kireina lightly smacked his arm, "Thank you for giving me your chakra by the way."

Kakashi shrugged, "I couldn't just let you lie there. Although there is something I wondered about."

* * *

Continued...

* * *

Kireina raised an eyebrow in question. 

"When I was transferring chakra, my chakra was silver like yours, so I was wondering if maybe you knew something about that."

Kireina remained silent for a second before vaguely answering, "I don't know." Then she changed the subject, "Where is Sasuke anyway? Maybe I should go help him."

Just as she said that, Sasuke walked in with a cup of tea. Kireina busied herself with the tea and refused to make eye contact with either of them. Kakashi studied Kireina for a second. She obviously knew something, but she wasn't willing to share.

'Just how many secrets does this girl have?' Kakashi wondered.

His reverie was broken when he heard a light tapping on the window. The three ninjas bolted upright and breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was only Mizuno. Sasuke opened the window for her to fly in and she settled on Kireina's arm.

"Tsunade-sama asked me to get you. Kazekage-sama is in the Hokage tower demanding to speak to you and Temari-san is also with him," Mizuno told Kireina.

Kireina frowned, "It's been a long time since Gaara's demanded anything of anyone. Did he look angry?"

Mizuno nodded, "It looked as if he wanted to kill someone and the only thing refraining him to do so was his sister's presence."

Kireina gasped, "Kakashi, can you come with me? Sasuke stay here."

Sasuke showed his displeasure at being left behind but sat down anyway. Kireina put a hand on Kakashi's arm and the two of them disappeared with all the smoke effects.

* * *

Kireina and Kakashi could hear a loud commotion upstairs as well as a few shouts of "Gaara!" Kireina bolted up the stairs with Kakashi right on her heels. She burst threw the doors of the office to find Gaara's sand stirring restlessly around him. There was an overturned chair next to Temari and Tsunade had cast a chakra barrier around Temari and herself. Kakashi watched as Kireina's hands clasped together in a weird seal. Her pinky, ring, and middle finger interlocked with each other and her index fingers were pointed up pressing against each other with her thumbs tucked underneath all the fingers. Kireina muttered something incomprehensible before a burst of silver chakra exploded from her and enveloped Gaara who looked as if he was trying to control his sand to know avail. When Kireina's chakra disappeared, Gaara's sand retreated back into the gourd and he dropped into a chair near him. 

"Gaara, what happened? Why is Shukaku acting up?" Kireina asked.

Gaara shook his head, "Gomen Hokage-sama, I didn't mean to scare you like that. Shukaku tends to slip out when I get frustrated. Kireina developed a jutsu that helps settle him down."

Tsunade stared at the red head. That was the most she had ever heard him say. She acknowledged the apology but was too stunned to say anything. She dropped the chakra barriers and then settled herself in the chair. Temari put her fan up and flipped her chair back up and settled down in it.

"Gaara, you still need to tell me what's wrong," Kireina said firmly.

Gaara hesitated and glanced at Tsunade and Kakashi. Kireina noticed this and sighed, "It's about **_that_** isn't it?"

Gaara nodded. Kireina grabbed a chair and sat down. Kakashi settled himself down next to her.

Kireina rubbed her temples, "It's okay. I trust these two. Tsunade-sama needs to know the whole truth anyway."

Gaara nodded before saying, "The Elementals are being attacked and they need you back for a short while."

Kireina sighed and stood up, "Hokage-sama, Kakashi, it's time I showed you my other self."

Kireina closed her eyes and clasped her hands together leaving her pinkies, index fingers, and thumbs to stay upright. She started to glow silver and the chakra got so bright, the others had to look away. When the light died down, a different looking woman stood in Kireina's place. She had light blue hair with silver streaks pinned away from her face with silver barrettes and when she opened her eyes, instead of the silver they were used to, a dark purple with silver pupils stared back at them. Her clothes were even different. Instead of the oriental top and black skirt. She wore a wispy white spaghetti strap dress that went a little below her knees. A flowing white cape was attached to the straps with a silver clasp. She still wore the Chinese slippers although they were white.

"Kireina?" Kakashi asked uncertainly.

Kireina nodded, "Has Konoha ever heard of the Elementals?"

Tsunade nodded, "Legendary ninjas rumored to be the protectors of the Wind and Fire Country. The Elementals are skilled ninjas who are said to be born with the bloodline limit of the elements. They have the power to control all the elements, wind, water, earth, fire, and lightning. They're very rare and born only every so often. They live unnaturally long and when they form relationships with their soul mate, their soul mate becomes like them but to a lesser degree. There has only been one that has ever been captured but she supposedly escaped."

Kireina nodded, "You obviously know your stuff, but that's not all. Elementals are collected at a very young age and put through a rigorous training program. The entire group consists of around 30 ninjas but the higher ranks actually only consist of ten ninjas. Only the higher ranks are able to control all elements but each ninja also specializes in one specific element. Two ninjas per element. The lower ranked ninja can all only control one element."

Tsunade and Kakashi listened in rapt fascination before Kakashi spoke up, "Why are you telling us this?"

He figured he already knew the answer but he didn't want it to be true.

Kireina sighed, "I'm one of the Elementals. I'm the one who was captured and escaped. My hair is blue which signifies me as a master of the water element. The silver streaks in my hair are from my seal. Kashi-kun, do you remember how I told you controlling fire was a bloodline I copied? Although the seal does allow me to copy bloodlines, controlling fire isn't a copied bloodline. It's one of my Elemental bloodlines. I'm one of the higher ranks due to the fact that I have several bloodline limits aside from the Elemental bloodlines. I was in Yukigakure undercover as part of my training when I was caught and sent to Hoshigakure. They placed the seal on me without knowing I was an Elemental, but for some reason, I changed to my Elemental state when the seal was first placed on me. I was able to run away and return to Sand. Sunagakure is the home for the Elementals most of the time. I'm the first one to ever move away. Sometimes the Elementals will go to the mountains to train. I guess that's where they are now if they're being attacked."

"Wait, wait, wait," Tsunade interrupted, "What seal?"

Kireina pointed to the small, silver star below her collarbone, "This seal enhances my original bloodline limits and it copies any other limits that I fight against giving me the ability to use the other's bloodline. It activates on its own and once it does I'll go into a trance like state that makes me kill anyone that attacks me."

"Can I see?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Kireina turned towards him, "See what?"

"Water."

Kireina hesitated but held out her hand palm up. Her hand glowed silver briefly before a sphere of silver water formed in her hand swirling around gently.

"And that can do harm?" Kakashi asked.

Kireina nodded. She gestured to Gaara who walked over and built up a sand wall. Kireina flicked the ball of water at the wall lightly and it splattered against the sand. A hole appeared in Gaara's sand and the sand around it was dark and muddy.

Kireina turned back to Kakashi, "There's something else I need to tell you."

Kakashi blinked, "It won't cause me to pass out will it?"

Kireina chewed her lip worriedly, "It depends. I have no problem with it and I hope you don't."

Kakashi sighed, "All right. Give it to me."

"I know why your chakra's silver."

Kakashi perked up, "I thought you said you didn't."

Kireina bit her lip again, "I couldn't tell you, but since you already know everything else, I might as well tell you now. Do you remember what Tsunade said about Elementals meeting their soul mates?"

Kakashi nodded and Kireina waited for his reaction.

5...4...3...2...1...

_Thunk._

Kireina winced before kneeling next to Kakashi and picking his head up. Temari giggled slightly while Gaara and Tsunade stood next to them looking shocked.

"Do your parents know about you being an Elemental?" Tsunade asked finally getting over the shock.

Kireina nodded, "Gaara, did you contact them?"

Gaara nodded, "I sent Mizuno with a note explaining the circumstances and told them to stay put."

Kireina nodded and gently stroked Kakashi's hair.

'His hair's really soft,' she thought absentmindedly.

A groan broke her out of her thoughts and she turned her gaze to the man who was currently lying with his head in her lap. Kakashi opened his eyes and then he pinched himself. Kireina wondered what he was doing.

Kakashi winced slightly, "Just making sure to see if I was still dreaming. Now, was it a dream or did you really just say that my chakra's silver because you and I have formed a relationship as _soul mates_?"

Kireina said nothing but only looked at him. Kakashi blinked, "Ok, I guess it wasn't a dream." He sighed, "Why couldn't it have been a dream."

Kireina was surprised when she felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Excuse me," she murmured before pushing Kakashi's head off her lap lightly and running out the door still in her Elemental state.

Everything was quiet until Kakashi suddenly found himself being hauled off the floor by a very angry Hokage.

"You stupid, lazy jounin. You better go after her right now," Tsunade all but snarled at Kakashi.

Kakashi blinked, "What did I say?"

Temari slapped her hand on her forehead, "By saying that you wished it was a dream, you were pretty much just saying you wished you weren't her soul mate."

Kakashi's jaw dropped open, "But I wasn't talking about that part! I would actually love being married to her! I was talking about the part about my chakra being silver because of that!"

"Well she doesn't know that!"

Kakashi stared at Temari blankly before sprinting out the door calling Kireina's name.

* * *

Kireina was aware of the fact that she was running through the village blindly still in her Elemental state and she was getting quite a few stares, but at that point, she really didn't care. She ran into the forest and jumped through some trees before she allowed herself to cry. 

'I guess he really doesn't like me. I never should have gotten my hopes up,' Kireina thought miserably, 'Why did I ever fall for him in the first place? Oh right, because he's been absolutely wonderful to me and I thought there might be the slightest chance that he could love me back.'

Kireina almost laughed at the image she must make. A 24-year-old woman soon to be 25 sitting up in a tree crying over some silly crush. Except, it wasn't a silly crush. She tensed when she heard footsteps under the tree and tensed even more so when she felt a familiar presence stop at the base of the tree.

"Reina-chan?"

"Go 'way," came the muffled answered.

Kakashi sighed and ran his fingers through his gravity-defying hair. He easily jumped up onto the branch. His heart almost broke at the sight before him. Kireina's back was against the trunk and her knees were drawn up hiding her face. Her blue hair fell around her covering the sides of her face. He straddled the tree branch and tentatively reached out to touch her. He nearly fell off the branch when Kireina slapped his hand away with so much force he lost his balance. Kakashi quickly stuck himself to the tree with his chakra and tried again.

"Reina, I'm not going away until you talk to me," Kakashi insisted.

"Fine, then I'll just ignore you."

"Will you at least let me explain?"

"What's there to explain? You don't like me, fine. I'll just tell the Elementals you died."

Kakashi cleared his throat, "I don't like being dead."

Kireina sighed and finally looked up. Her control over water gave her the ability to make it look like she hadn't been crying, but it also made her eyes dry when she did that.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"I didn't mean it that way," Kakashi said, "I don't mind being linked with you. I was just surprised about the chakra thing. It's not everyday that my chakra changes colors you know."

Kireina just stared at him not saying anything. It was rather unnerving for Kakashi.

"I-I just wanted t-to say, uh," Kakashi stuttered trying to find the right words.

Kireina waited patiently before sighing, "It's okay Kakashi, you don't have to make yourself like me. I honestly don't mind having a dead soul mate."

"But I do!" Kakashi burst out.

Kireina blinked in surprise. Kakashi scooted closer to Kireina.

"I'm sorry, Reina. I didn't mean I didn't want to be with you. Sasuke and I were actually talking about that when you walked in on us. I told him I couldn't be with you right now because of the war, but in the future, I wouldn't mind."

Kireina was still staring at him but slightly less hostile. Kakashi moved until he was sitting directly in front of Kireina with her almost between his legs. He leaned forward hesitantly before pulling Kireina into his arms. Kireina sat stiffly before putting her legs down on either side of the branch and letting herself relax in his arms.

"I'm still mad at you," her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

Kakashi smiled slightly, "I know."

* * *

Kakashi jumped off the tree branch with Kireina in his arms. She had transformed back to her normal self and the two of them were ready to head back to the Hokage's office. As they walked back, Kakashi slyly slipped his hand over Kireina's holding it tightly. Kireina blushed slightly but curled her fingers around his hand anyway. The two of them slipped back into the Hokage's office where they were greeted with the sight of a pacing Hokage and restless sand. Temari jumped up with her fan open showing all three circles ready to blow Kakashi into next week. Then she noticed their hands and she grinned knowingly at Kireina. Kireina turned as red as a cherry and tried to tug her hand away from Kakashi but he held firm. 

"Hokage-sama, Hatake Kakashi requesting permission to aid the Elementals and Sunagakure," Kakashi firmly said in a very business-like manner.

Kireina gasped in surprise, "You can't go Kakashi! I won't let you."

Kakashi ignored her and awaited Tsunade's answer.

"If you really want to go, I can't exactly stop you," Tsunade said.

Kakashi nodded and they left.

As the two of them walked through the village, Kireina tugged on his hand, "Kakashi, you can't go. It's too dangerous. Even for you."

Kakashi turned to Kireina, "If I'm not there to protect you, then who will?"

"I won't be going alone. The rest of the Elementals will be going with me. Plus, you forget that I have a nearly endless supply of chakra at my disposal and if need be, I can hold up a barrier around myself for 2 weeks straight without dropping it," Kireina said.

"I don't care. I'm not letting you go after just getting you."

Kireina scowled, "I'm not going to let you go. Even if it means having to knock you out for three days." With that said, she wrenched her hand out of his grasp and stomped away.

Kakashi followed her amiably not believing her threat one bit. When he reached Sasuke's house, he let himself in and found Sasuke in the kitchen cooking dinner. He continued to the living room and the only one there was Naruto. So he walked up the stairs in search of his new girlfriend. He peeked in each of the rooms until he finally found her in Naruto's room picking up his clothes.

"I'm serious Kakashi, I'm not going to let you go with me." Kireina said not looking up.

"I was serious too. I'm not letting you go without me."

"Well I guess it all comes down to who's the quicker one then," came a voice from behind. "I'm sorry Kashi-kun, but this is too dangerous and it's something above your level."

Kakashi whirled around, 'Kage Bunshin?' But it was too late, Kireina hit a couple of his tenketsu and he was out.

Kireina caught her boyfriend before he hit the floor. He was too heavy for her to drag so she used her levitation skills to lift him and took him to her room where she put him in the bed. Kireina covered Kakashi with the blankets and removed his shoes, vest, and hitai-ate. She went to her desk and left a quick note before picking up the duffle bag she had saved from the fired. She hurried downstairs and called Sasuke and Naruto to her.

"Boys, I'm going on a mission for awhile okay? I know you'll be fine on your own, but Kakashi will watch over you if you need anything. I, uh, kind of knocked him out so he's in my room sleeping. He should be awake in a few days. Listen very carefully, this is a very dangerous mission, okay? To be honest, I don't know when I'll be back or even _if_ I'll be back. Tomorrow morning, I want the two of you to march straight to the hospital and get Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan. Then I want you to find Shikamaru and go to the Hokage's office. Gaara, Temari, and Tsunade-sama will explain everything to you guys," Kireina told them.

"What?" Naruto burst out, "You don't know if you'll come back? But you have to! You're our nee-chan!"

Kireina smiled slightly before hugging Naruto. Then she turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke, I'm leaving Mizuno with you guys okay? If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to send her to Itachi or Tanayo, all right? I'm also leaving one of my lions, Hiroshi (Generous), with you guys. He'll act as a bodyguard for you. He should already be outside," Kireina said.

Kireina gave Sasuke a hug then transformed into her Elemental state before disappearing in a flash of silver.

* * *

Okay..so I suck at romance :P Pure fluff and corniness. Gotta love it:D 


	15. Reappearance of Rin

**Previously...**

"Boys, I'm going on a mission for awhile okay? I know you'll be fine on your own, but Kakashi will watch over you if you need anything. I, uh, kind of knocked him out so he's in my room sleeping. He should be awake in a few days. Listen very carefully, this is a very dangerous mission, okay? To be honest, I don't knowwhen I"ll be back or even _if_ I'll be back. Tomorrow morning, I want the two of you to march straight to the hospital and get Sakura-chan and Hinata-chan. Then I want you to find Shikamaru and go to the Hokage's office. Gaara, Temari, and Tsunade-sama will explain everything to you guys," Kireina told them.

"What?" Naruto burst out, "You don't know if you'll come back? But you have to! You're our nee-chan!"

Kireina smiled slightly before hugging Naruto.Then she turned to Sasuke, "Sasuke, I'm leaving Mizuno with you guys okay? If you need anything at all, don't hesitate to send her to Itachi or Tanayo, all right? I'm also leaving one of my lions, Hiroshi (Generous), with you guys. He'll act as a bodyguard for you. He should already be outside," Kireina said.

Kireina gave Sasuke a hug then transformed into her Elemental state before disappearing in a flash of silver.

* * *

**Continued...**

* * *

_**2 months later...**_

Kakashi stared up at the ceiling above Kireina's bed. He had pretty much moved into the Uchiha manor and was currently residing in Kireina's room. The war with Cloud had ended a month ago and Akatsuki was already gone. Kireina's birthday had just passed, so she was 25 now. Kakashi continued to stare at the ceiling. He was turning 26 today and had no one to share it with.

"Kakashi-sensei! Time to wake up!" Naruto called.

Kakashi rolled out of bed unwillingly. After 2 months with no word from Kireina, Kakashi was very worried. When he had woken up 4 days after she left, he had wanted to go after her but had no way of knowing where she was. Sasuke was just as worried as he was but instead of holding it in like Kakashi did, he vented his frustration during training.

Naruto ran into Kireina's room, "KAKASHI-SENSEIII! It's time to wake up!"

"I'm up, I'm up," he grumbled.

He ambled out of the room into the bathroom and a took a quick shower and brushed his teeth then went to the kitchen to help Naruto prepare breakfast. Sasuke was already up and sitting at the kitchen table in stony silence.

"Morning," Kakashi greeted Sasuke. He got a grunt in response.

Within minutes, three plates of hot food were placed on the kitchen table. After a mumbling of "Itadakimasu.", the three shinobi began eating. Their breakfast was interrupted by tapping on the window. Kakashi looked up to see a silver sparrow hovering at the window with a scroll tied to its leg. Kakashi perked up and nearly overturned his chair in his haste to open the window. The sparrow flew off once Kakashi had untied the scroll. Sasuke and Naruto crowded around Kakashi to read what it said.

"Happy Birthday Kashi-kun! I'm sorry I couldn't be here to celebrate it with you. I'll make up for it when I come back. As of now I'm fine, but I don't know when the fighting will end. Take care of Naruto and Sasuke for me okay?" The date on the note said September 14. The sparrow had flown fast and gotten the note to Kakashi by the next day in time for his birthday.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief and his eye curved up. She was okay. Sasuke's brooding demeanor cheered up noticeably. Naruto's face eased into his fox grin once again. The three of them sat there, each grinning like fools, when suddenly the heard three sharp knocks on the front door. The three of them exchanged puzzled glances. No one had bothered them in the last month due to the fact that all three had been terrible company. The only ones who bothered visiting were Sakura, Tsunade, and Hinata. Those three never knocked. Kakashi went to get the door with Sasuke and Naruto following him like curious puppies. Kakashi's one visible eye widened.

"Happy Birthday Kakashi!"

* * *

Kakashi and the visitor sat in the living room in uncomfortable silence. Sasuke and Naruto walked in with a tray with tea on it. They set it down on the coffee table and gave Kakashi and the visitor each a cup. 

"Rin, what are you doing here?" Kakashi finally asked.

"I'm back for good Kakashi. I'm done training," the woman replied.

"Kakashi-sensei," Sasuke interrupted, "Shouldn't you introduce us?"

"Sasuke, Naruto, remember my old teammate I told you about?"

"Yeah."

"This is her."

"Rin, this is my old genin team. Namino Uchiha Sasuke and Namino Uzumaki Naruto," Kakashi introduced.

Rin raised an eyebrow, "You had a genin team?"

Kakashi stared at her, "A lot has changed since you left."

Rin winced at the slightly accusing tone, "Well Kakashi. Your old teammate? Is that all I am to you?"

Kakashi sighed, "You're the one that left, Rin. Not me."

Sasuke and Naruto glanced back and forth between their teacher and his teammate, confused.

"Kakashi-sensei? What do you mean?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi sighed, "Rin and I...we were engaged to be married but on the day of our wedding, Rin left Konoha."

Sasuke stood up tensely, Sharingan flashing bright red, before stalking out of the living room and slamming the door to his room shut. Naruto ran to follow his brother.

Rin looked after Sasuke and Naruto, confused, "What's wrong with them?"

Kakashi frowned, "Sasuke's cousin is my current girlfriend. She took in Sasuke and Naruto and adopted them as her younger brothers not long ago."

Rin whirled around to face Kakashi her eyes wide open and surprised, "What?"

"5 years is a long time, Rin. People change in 5 years."

"But I left to become better for you!"

"You don't get it do you?" Kakashi stood up and walked to the fireplace to touch the pictures of Team 7 and Kireina on the mantle, "You were already enough for me. I didn't need you to be better."

Rin gaped at Kakashi, "I still love you though, Kakashi. I always have."

Kakashi turned back to Rin, "But I don't. Not anymore. I did at one point, but then you left. I thought I would never love again. Until I received a genin team. Those kids taught me to never give up, so I didn't. Now I've got Reina."

"Is Reina the girl? Her name means 'Sound of Jewels'. It's interesting."

"Her full name's Namino Kireina. Her parents mixed 'Kireii Hana' together."

"Where is she now?"

"Fighting a war."

"Konoha's at war?"

"No, Suna is. Her ancestry traces back to Konoha but moved to Sunagakure. She was Sand's ANBU captain for the last 13 years before she moved here."

"13 years? How old is this girl?"

"24."

"SHE WAS AN ANBU CAPTAIN AT 11 YEARS OLD!"

"Yup."

"Guess I can't compete with that."

No answer.

"But then again, you can't compete with someone if you're not here now can you?"

"You would like her Rin."

Rin sighed, "How can I like anyone that's stolen my fiancé?"

Kakashi shrugged. A tapping was heard on the window again and when the two of them turned to look, it was the Hokage's bird used to summon all ANBU, jounin, and chuunin to her office. Kakashi nodded to the bird before striding to Sasuke's room and knocking on the door.

"Hokage-sama is summoning us," Kakashi called.

There was silence and then the door opened to reveal a sullen Naruto and an annoyed Sasuke.

* * *

Tsunade leaned against the Hokage's desk. The room was crowded with jounin and chuunin. Sakura and Hinata were standing by her side with Shizune. Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were at the front too. Temari and Kankuro looked as if they hadn't slept in several days. And Gaara...well...Gaara always looked like he hadn't slept for days. Shikamaru grabbed a random chair and pushed it behind Temari who blushed prettily and sat down. Sounds of cooing from the other kunoichi filled the room. Kakashi, Rin, Sasuke, and Naruto entered the room already jammed packed. 

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Kakashi? Wow, you're not late! Being with Kireina has good effects on you I see."

Kakashi made no motion to acknowledge whether or not he had heard her and instead turned to lean on the wall. The door flew open and something glinted brightly announcing the arrival of Gai and Rock Lee. Neji and Ten Ten followed with annoyed expressions.

Tsunade cleared her throat and stood up straight, "Now that we're all here, we can begin the meeting. First off, we can welcome Rin back from training. She will be reinstated as a jounin and will take Kakashi's place as a jounin teacher. Kakashi will be placed in charge of his old genin team's training as well as the other chuunin in their age group. Second of all, the Kazekage has personally come to request our assistance in their war. Are there any volunteers who are willing to accompany him?"

Kakashi's hand shot in the air. He would do anything as long as he could be with her. Tsunade saw his hand but ignored it and instead let her gaze move on to other jounin who were raising their hands. Gai was chosen along with Genma, Anko, and a few ANBU. Shikamaru also volunteered along with Neji and Lee.

Gaara bowed gracefully to the room, "Thank you all for your helpfulness. We don't know how we will repay you."

"Tsunade-sama," Hinata spoke up, "Maybe some medic nin should go too."

Tsunade nodded, "Good thinking Hinata. Do I have any who would be willing to go?"

Hinata and Sakura both stepped forward.

"Sakura? Hinata? Are you sure? Both of your abilities are extraordinary, but it's different out there."

Sakura spoke up, "Hinata and I work well together. We'll take care of each other."

"I forbid this," Hiashi thundered, "We cannot afford to lose the Hyuuga heiress and I cannot afford to lose another of my loved ones."

Hinata stared at her father at the last statement. Neji moved to the front to stand next to Hinata and bowed.

"Hiashi-sama, I will be sure to watch Hinata-sama and I won't let any harm come to her."

Hyuuga Hiashi sighed and walked to stand in front of Neji.

"My brother would be proud of you Neji. Thank you for taking care of my daughter all of these years."

Tsunade cleared her throat, "All those that were chosen need to be ready by sunset tonight. Kazekage and his siblings need to get back to Sunagakure."

The ninjas filed out of the room while Kakashi lingered behind to speak to Tsunade.

"Tsunade-sama, why did you skip me?" Kakashi wanted to know.

Tsunade sighed, "Kireina specifically asked me not to allow you, Naruto, or Sasuke to go. She doesn't want you there for fear of your feelings getting in the way."

Kakashi nodded in supposed understanding before heading out the door. However, in his mind, a whirlwind of thoughts turned over and over again.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, "What took you so long?"

Kakashi shrugged, "I had to talk to Tsunade-sama about a few things. Sorry, let's go back now."

Stuffing his hands in his pockets, he started walking in the direction of the Uchiha compound. Naruto scurried along behind him while Sasuke walked placidly, his hands also stuffed in his pockets.

**_Two days later (Sunagakure)..._**

Sakura and Hinata hurried around Sunagakure's hospital trying to stretch their chakra reserves as far as they could. They healed only the most injured and saved only those that could be saved. Those that couldn't, they made them as comfortable as possible. They had arrived the day before and had been put to work immediately. Neither of them had seen Kireina yet. The doors of the hospital flew open with a loud bang as Kireina's summoned horse, Akumu, galloped in with three more injured on his back. Yume followed closely behind with three others. Sakura helped the injured off and looked around to find places for them. The hospital had run out of beds so there were injured sprawled all over the floor. Only the most severely injured were given beds. Sakura gave a quick once over to the six that had just come in. All had broken bones and minor wounds, none life-threatening.

"Hinata-chan! Come help me!" Sakura called.

Hinata hurried over to Sakura and helped her lay the injured on whatever free floor space was available. After healing the bones and bandaging their wounds, they were sent out of the hospital again. As cruel as that was, the village couldn't afford to have its ninjas lazing about in the hospital.

* * *

-moans- I hate writer's block...


End file.
